Catalina Taltavull - To fly or not to fly through a volcanic ash cloud

Several encounters of volcanic ash (VA) with aircrafts over the last 30 years have proven that ingestion of these particulates can cause serious damage to jet engines, ranging from blockage of cooling channel to complete inhibition of air passage, becoming a real threat to the aviation safety. During the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 in Iceland, air traffic was severely affected in Europe and globally for several days, causing millions of pounds worth of losses. This event forced aircraft manufacturers to work on the development of regulations on how to proceed when a volcanic eruption occurs and specify limits on how much ash is considered acceptable for a jet engine to ingest without damage. However, all these potential damaging events are strongly related to the actual amount of particulate adhering. In this talk, Dr Taltavull will explore the importance of understanding the likelihood of a certain VA adhering into a substrate by taking into consideration both ash properties and environmental conditions.