SCHILHANSL

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

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2.5.1894 München/D - 31.3.1976 München/D

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Max Schilhansl graduated as a mechanical engineer from Munich Technical University and then had to participate in World War I. He joined in 1921 the Vulkan turbine manufacturers in Hamburg and then collaborated with Neumeyer in Munich until 1925 where he was involved in hydraulic engineering. After having submitted a PhD thesis in 1926, he collaborated with the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt DVL in Berlin-Adlershof. There he was involved in the design of a novel wind tunnel in which airplane motors were tested. In the mid 1930s, Schilhansl contributed to the wind tunnels of Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luftfahrt DFL in Braunschweig. From 1936 to 1947 he was a chief engineer with Voith turbine works in Heidenheim, where he developed the multistage axial compressor. He was also in charge of the institute of hydraulic machinery of Munich Technical University from 1942 to 1947, once the former director Dieter Thoma (1881-1942) had passed away. In 1947, Schilhansl moved to the USA, where he was a consulting engineer for the US Air Force at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He was then a professor at Brown University, Providence RI. Schilhansl remained in the USA until 1967 as a consultant for the Ford Motors Company in Dearborn MI and then returned to Munich.

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During his stay in Hamburg, Schilhansl was involved in hydraulic engineering. Once in Munich, he was unable to continue what Thoma had established from the early 1920s, because the end of World War II brought an end to research in hydraulic machinery. In the United States Schilhansl developed the plane cascade theory for compressors and was a notable contributor to various large industries with turbo machinery.

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_{Blenk, H. (1969). Max Schilhansl 75 Jahre. Zeitschrift für Flugwissenschaften 17(6): 210. P}

_{Blenk, H. (1976). Max Schilhansl. Jahrbuch DGLR (69): 37-38.}

_{Schilhansl, M. (1925). Hauptströmung und Ringwirbel. Wasserkraft-Jahrbuch 1925/26: 347- 361.}

_{Schilhansl, M. (1928). Rechnerische Untersuchungen zum Kavitationsproblem. Wasserkraft-Jahrbuch 1928/29: 394-421.}

_{Schilhansl, M. (1929). Berechnung axialer Schnelläufer. Wasserkraft und Wasserwirtschaft}

_{24(7): 85-89.}

_{Schilhansl, M. (1931). Versuche an einem Windkanalmodell. Zeitschrift für Flugtechnik und Motorluftschiffahrt 22(4): 107-117; 22(5): 147-149.}

_{Schilhansl, M.J. (1955). Compressor design and performance of a 22 inch by 32 inch low-speed wind tunnel. Brown University: Providence RI.}