Robert J. Witt Associate Professor Address/E-mail Program Affiliations Education Fields of Interest Additional Experience Summary

Contact Information

531 Engineering Research Building 1500 Engineering Drive Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/263-2760 Fax: 608/262-6707 E-mail: witt@engr.wisc.edu

Departments

• Engineering Physics

Education

• PhD 1987, Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fields of Interest

• computational methods in fluid and solid mechanics

Additional Experience

• Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

Summary

Professor Witt's major interests are in computational methods for fluid and solid mechanics. Many special problems in nuclear engineering require developing new analysis methods to give insight into system behavior. Witt has worked on structural mechanics problems in support of toroidal and poloidal field coil development for a variety of fusion experiments. He has developed models for, and continues to participate in, studies involving fission reactor pressure vessels subject to extreme loads in severe reactor accidents.

Witt also focuses on the behavior of superfluid helium, which is a potential coolant for superconducting magnets that exhibits unusual properties. Models of the physical behavior of superfluid helium are such that many fundamental phenomena (natural circulation, forced convection and heat transfer) differ substantially from the behavior of ordinary fluids and require new modeling techniques. Witt works with Professor Pfotenhauer, comparing theoretical/numerical models with experimental results.