About

Professor Eric Loth serves as the Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor of Engineering and is a faculty member in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Virginia. He is also the Director of the Fluids Research Innovation Lab (FRIL). His current research focuses on several advanced topics including extreme-scale wind turbines, energy-storage systems, multiphase flow, and aerospace propulsion. Through his leadership at FRIL, Professor Loth oversees a range of projects that address critical challenges in fluid dynamics and energy systems, contributing to innovations in renewable energy and aerospace technologies.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Environmental science
• Physics
• Electrical engineering
• Aerospace engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Marine engineering
• Meteorology
• Structural engineering
• Economics
• Geography
• Mechanics
• Process engineering
• Architectural engineering
• Systems engineering
• Environmental economics
• Automotive engineering

Selected publications

• Spray-based near-isothermal compression and expansion for an offshore wind energy storage system

  Journal of Energy Storage · 2026-01-21

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Substructure Optimization for a Semi-Submersible Floating Wind Turbine Under Extreme Environmental Conditions

  Designs · 2025-06-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  A barrier to the adoption of floating offshore wind turbines is their high cost relative to conventional fixed-bottom wind turbines. The largest contributor to this cost disparity is generally the floating substructure, due to its large size and complexity. Typically, a primary driver of the geometry and size of a floating substructure is the extreme environmental load case of Region 4, where platform loads are the greatest due to the impact of extreme wind and waves. To address this cost issue, a new concept for a floating offshore wind turbine’s substructure, its moorings, and anchors was optimized for a reference 10-MW turbine under extreme load conditions using OpenFAST. The levelized cost of energy was minimized by fixing the above-water turbine design and minimizing the equivalent substructure mass, which is based on the mass of all substructure components (stem, legs, buoyancy cans, mooring, and anchoring system) and associated costs of their materials, manufacturing, and installation. A stepped optimization scheme was used to allow an understanding of their influence on both the system cost and system dynamic responses for the extreme parked load case. The design variables investigated include the length and tautness ratio of the mooring lines, length and draft of the cans, and lengths of the legs and the stem. The dynamic responses investigated include the platform pitch, platform roll, nacelle horizontal acceleration, and can submergence. Some constraints were imposed on the dynamic responses of interest, and the metacentric height of the floating system was used to ensure static stability. The results offer insight into the parametric influence on turbine motion and on the potential savings that can be achieved through optimization of individual substructure components. A 36% reduction in substructure costs was achieved while slightly improving the hydrodynamic stability in pitch and yielding a somewhat large surge motion and slight roll increase.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Experimental Particle Separation Efficiency for an Axisymmetric-Sector Inertial Particle Separator

  2025-07-16

  articleSenior author

  An Inertial Particle Separator (IPS) is a device used in aircraft engines to remove sand and other particulates from ingested air, protecting engine components from erosion. This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation of an axisymmetric IPS system in terms of particle separation efficiency. The effects of different particle sizes (A2, AFRL03, and A4 test dusts) and flow split ratios on separation efficiency were examined, incorporating rigorous uncertainty and repeatability analyses. A refined startup procedure was developed to minimize particle reingestion, significantly improving result consistency and accuracy. The study provides detailed experimental data for a reduced-flow-turning IPS geometry designed to minimize pressure losses. Results demonstrate the significant influence of particle size distribution and Stokes number on separation performance, with larger particles (A4) exhibiting higher separation efficiencies compared to smaller particles (A2). A robust dataset for validating advanced computational models is presented and findings contribute to ongoing efforts to enhance engine protection and performance in challenging operational environments, particularly for rotorcraft and other aircraft operating in sandy conditions.

  PublisherDOI

• Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW

  Wind Energy · 2025-01-28 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Modern wind turbines have been continuously growing in size due to the increased power generation and reduced costs associated with larger rotors and more abundant wind resources offshore. In order to effectively implement pitch control on blades that are longer, more flexible, and heavier than ever before, modern electric pitch systems must provide enough torque to overcome blade pitch inertia and loads while providing suitable control response frequencies. Despite this need, there is limited published research on the sizing of such pitch systems at extreme scales. This study models peak pitching power and pitch actuator torque requirements in Regions 2 and 3 turbulent wind conditions. The developed model considers blade pitch response, pitching moments, pitch system dynamics, and blade aeroelasticity. The model is applied using an integrated wind turbine code used to simulate the turbine response of a 25‐MW offshore reference turbine with advanced pitch control under standardized turbulent wind conditions. The results show that the fastest pitch response requirements occur in Region 3 wind speeds just above the rated wind speed and that the peak pitch actuator torque requirements are correlated with maximum pitching moments. The model is extended to turbines ranging from 5 to 50 MW to develop a simplified scaling power law based on only the product of blade mass and mean chord length. This scaling law predicts maximum pitch actuator torque and maximum power consumed from pitch actuation based on results from computational simulations of multiple extreme‐scale reference turbines. This study provides useful insights for the design and sizing of pitch systems in large‐scale wind turbines.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Icing on Compressors and Fans

  American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. eBooks · 2025-08-05

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Large Eddy Simulation with Lagrangian Particle Tracking of an Inertial Particle Separator

  2025-07-16

  articleSenior author

  An inertial particle separator (IPS) is a device used to remove particulates from an airflow by exploiting the inertia of particles and geometric constraints to manipulate the incoming inflow of an engine. It is commonly employed in gas turbine engines to protect internal components from damage caused by ingested debris, dust, and sand. In this study, we investigate the unsteady flow behavior and particle separation efficiency of an IPS using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES). The LES approach captured complex flow structures in the scavenge channel, including rippling effects and vortical structures upstream of the splitter that were previously undetected. Particle separation efficiency was examined across a wide range of sizes, showing a sigmoidal trend: near-zero efficiency for particles smaller than 10 μm and over 95% separation for particles larger than 10 μm. Efficiency for very large particles (>100 μm) slightly decreased due to particle-wall interactions. The computational efforts demonstrated stable predictions of separation efficiency across time snapshots, with little sensitivity to mesh density or turbulence models. However, the model overestimated separation efficiency for smaller particles (6.5–13 μm) compared to experimental results, indicating areas for future refinement. Overall, the study underscores the accuracy of LES for IPS simulations while identifying potential improvements for smaller particle predictions.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimental characterization of an axisymmetric-sector inertial particle separator wind tunnel

  Aerospace Science and Technology · 2025-05-01 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Spray-based Near-Isothermal Compression and Expansion for an Offshore Wind Energy Storage System

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of freestream turbulence on energy harvesting of a single semi-passive oscillating hydrofoil

  Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy · 2025-09-01

  article

  Rivers pose challenges for renewable energy device deployment due to shallow depths and variable, unsteady flow conditions. Vertically oscillating hydrofoil turbines appear well suited to accommodate changing flow conditions, produce high efficiencies, and reduce impact on wildlife. However, no studies exist on the impact of freestream turbulence on oscillating hydrofoil turbine performance. In this study, a semi-passive hydrofoil turbine is experimentally tested in a water channel, operating at chord-based Reynolds numbers ranging from 69000 to 91000. A passive turbulence grid was incorporated upstream to assess performance in a nearly uniform turbulence intensity profile with a turbulence intensity of approximately 5% and turbulent integral length scales on the order of 0.01 m. The velocity field just upstream of the hydrofoil was first characterized using hot-wire anemometry. Baffle boards were placed on top of the flow to mitigate free surface effects. Experiments with the hydrofoil device were then conducted with and without the turbulence grid over various flow speeds to obtain hydrofoil kinematics and force data. The results indicate that increased turbulence levels enhance power production by increasing heave velocities and vertical forces throughout one oscillation period. The most benefit was observed on the downstroke, where heave range/speed increased due to gravity and inertia. As a result, hydrodynamic efficiency increased by up to 12% with an observed maximum value of 52%.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of Blade Pitch Actuation System on Wind Turbine Cost and Energy Production

  Journal of Physics Conference Series · 2024-06-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract To minimize the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of wind turbines, advanced co-design strategies are required that also consider the contribution of active blade pitch control to overall energy production and wind turbine cost. Thereby, the demanded closed-loop performance drives the requirements on the blade pitch actuation system, which needs to be carefully balanced. To enable this, an extended LCOE measure is developed in this paper using stochastic estimates for quantifying pitch actuation cost in terms of pitch power and closed-loop performance in terms of net energy production. Additionally, the impact of blade pitch deflections on structural loads and hence cost is evaluated considering both collective and individual pitch control. The interdependencies between the different design objectives are revealed in a case study carried out on a 25MW wind turbine, demonstrating the guidance for engineers toward cost-effective and efficient wind turbine designs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Ilker S. Bayer

  Italian Institute of Technology

  61 shared

• Michael S. Selig

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  39 shared

• Adam Steele

  Arizona State University

  36 shared

• Lucy Y. Pao

  31 shared

• Kathryn Johnson

  Colorado School of Mines

  29 shared

• Meghan Kaminski

  Rivian

  28 shared

• Rainald Löhner

  25 shared

• Daniel Zalkind

  National Renewable Energy Laboratory

  25 shared

Labs

• Fluids Research and Innovation Laboratory (FRIL)PI

  Not provided

Awards & honors

• Fellow of ASME
• Fellow of AIAA
• Yip Visiting Fellow of the Magdalene College at Cambridge Un…