Propulsion
Although the first hypersonic vehicles will be unpowered gliding designs, scramjet-powered vehicles, and ultimately dual cycle turbojet/scramjet-powered vehicles will follow. With regard to scramjet propulsion, understanding the processes at the core of hypersonic combustors, and its sensitivity to initial conditions is critical to ensuring stable and high-performance engine operation. The combustor geometry and fuel reaction times set important operability limits. Even at the reduced flow velocities required for flame stabilization (typically ∼ 1/3 of the flight speed), the chemical time-scales inherent to most fuels necessitate long combustors and hence increase vehicle length and/or weight.
Similarly, the thermal boundary conditions due to wall heat transfer and deformation of critical flow paths can have a significant impact on the turbulent flow and combustion. Thermal management is a major challenge in the combustor, currently limited by available high-temperature materials, or heat mitigation approaches, which relates back the Materials, Structures, and Thermal Protection/Mitigation Initiative research.
The Propulsion Focus Group includes faculty performing experiments and numerical simulations related to scramjet propulsion. Experiments make extensive use of non-intrusive laser diagnostic techniques. Simulations include high-fidelity analysis of fundamental phenomena in isolators and cavities involving turbulent models coupled with embedded DNS, as well as URANS-based formulations to capture scramjet turbulent flow paths. A particular interest is enhanced combustion using plasma discharges.
Affiliated Faculty
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Josh Cameron
ND Turbo
Expertise: Turbomachinery Propulsion -
Robert Chlebek
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Aero. Facilities Management -
Thomas Corke
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Hypersonics Technical Lead, Hypersonic Aerodynamics, Turbulent Transition -
Stanislav Gordeyev
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: High-speed Flows/Aero-Optics -
Aleksandar Jemcov
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Computational Fluid Dynamics -
Sergey Leonov
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Gas Dynamics/Plasma -
Jonathan MacArt
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Combustion -
Eric Matlis
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Hypersonic Flows/Plasma/Sensors -
Karel Matouš
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Computational Physics, Aero-Materials -
Scott Morris
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Turbomachinery Propulsion -
Joseph Powers
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Combustion, V&V -
Daniele Schiavazzi
Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Expertise: Mathematics/ Hypersonic Aero., Surface Ablation -
Flint Thomas
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Unsteady Flows/Turbulence -
Meng Wang
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Expertise: Computational Fluid Dynamics/Turbulence Modeling