Summary of the Current Research Activities in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Compiled Fall 2001 Faculty researchers in the Department of Aerospace Engineering have been responsible for a large volume of research in the last two decades. Their efforts generally fall into the three major areas: fluid mechanics/aerodynamics, aircraft structures/solid mechanics, and flight mechanics and controls. The following sections summarize the faculty and student research efforts that are underway in each of these areas at this time. Fluid Mechanics/Aerodynamics Several research activities related to the development and application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are on-going. The specific topics include the following: Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), an investigation of the effect of magnetic field on high speed flows; Turbulent flows, a program to develop and modify turbulence models to improve prediction capabilities of supersonic turbulent flows; Boundary conditions, a project to develop high-order boundary conditions for CAA and CFD applications; Chemistry Effect, an investigation of chemically reacting flows; Flow control, an investigation of innovative schemes for flow control; and Large Eddy Simulation, a program to develop CFD schemes for LES of high speed flows. The following research programs in experimental aerodynamic are in progress: Impact of Aircraft Operation on Composite Airframe Temperatures, an investigation to measure the impact of convective cooling on composite aircraft structures, as a result of aircraft operations. WSU Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel Upgrades, a program to improve the University's 7 x10 ft Low Speed Wind Tunnel performance. Improved Propeller Design and Analysis for Low-Reynolds Number Applications, a program to develop an optimized inverse design tool, with specific application to small low-speed aircraft propellers. An experimental component is planned to provide validation and refinement. Wind Tunnel Testing of Automobiles Subject to Tornado-Like Winds, an experimental investigation to evaluate automobile occupant safety during tornado encounters; Wind Energy, an ongoing effort in the areas of wind turbine performance prediction tool development, wind tunnel and atmospheric testing, and public; and Delta Wing Vortex Dynamics And Cascade Aerodynamics. A large array of aircraft icing research programs has been conducted at Wichita State in the last twenty years. The following projects are in progress at this time: Hot Air Anti-icing Research Program, a research program to improve the performance of hot bleed air anti-icing systems; Pilot Simulator Training for Aircraft Icing Effects, a program to develop a robust simulation methodology to provide pilots with a ground-based training facility which will provide a realistic simulation of in-flight icing encounters; Tailplane Icing Program II, a collaborative effort between NASA, WSU and the Bombardier/Learjet Company to improve the understanding of icing effects on tailplane aerodynamic performance and aircraft handling qualities, Water Droplet Impingement Program Phase II, a research program to develop experimental methodologies, data reduction methods, and an extensive database of water droplet impingement for a range of aircraft surfaces to assist in the testing and certification of ice protection systems and to improve the design of ice protection systems; Non Hot-air Ice Protection Systems, a program to evaluate a range of de-icing systems for general aviation aircraft applications and to explore potential new methods for ice protection system development; Effect of Critical Ice Shapes on Finite Wing Geometries, a systematic research effort addressing the effects of ice shapes on the aerodynamic performance and handling qualities of a finite wing; Experimental Study of SLD Impingement Effects, a research program to develop experimental methodologies for investigating and measuring super-cooled large droplets (SLD) impingement; Effect of Ice Shapes on the Aerodynamic Performance and Hinge Moments of an NLF 0414 Airfoil with 25% c Simple Flap, a program to evaluate the aerodynamic properties of ice accretions for a natural laminar flow airfoil in a dry air wind tunnel facility; Development of Computational Aeroacoustics Techniques with Applications to Propeller Noise, an extensive research effort to develop advanced simulation tools for predicting the near and far field acoustic signature of helicopter rotors and aircraft propellers; Development of Computational Electromagnetics for Solving Scattering, Radiation and Electromagnetic Environmental Problems, a program to develop computational methodologies for the prediction of aircraft radar cross section signature; Simulated Ice Flight Tests on a Sikorsky Helicopter, a collaborative effort between Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, the U.S Government and WSU to develop simulated ice techniques and to validate these techniques for use on the S-92 helicopter certification program; Effect of Mixed Phase Icing Conditions on Thermal Ice Protection Systems, a program to develop experimental methodologies for investigating and evaluating the effect of mixed phase icing conditions on thermal ice protection systems; Aerodynamic Scaling Experiments with Simulated Ice Accretions, a comprehensive experimental investigation with a range of airfoil scales and simulated ice accretions to evaluate the effects of Reynolds number and ice shape geometric scaling on aerodynamic performance; Aerodynamic Performance Evaluation of Iced Aircraft Configurations using Computational Fluid Dynamics, an extensive computational investigation to evaluate the aerodynamic performance degradation of airfoils and wings due to various forms of ice accretions; Computational and Experimental Investigation of Wind Tunnel Wall Effects, an investigation to use experimental and computational tools to enhance the understanding of wind tunnel wall effects on the flow field about large and small wing models; WSU 7-ft by 10-ft Wind Tunnel Upgrade, an ongoing effort to enhance the WSU wind tunnel facility through improvements to tunnel operational conditions, tunnel instrumentation, operational procedures, and customer service; Ice Adhesion Experiments, an experimental program to study the adhesion strength of static ice to metallic surfaces and to investigate the effects of surface roughness, surface contamination, and water purity on the shear strength of ice adhesion; and Experimental Investigation of Flow Separation over 2D Airfoils with Glaze and Spoiler Ice Shapes, an experimental program to study the basic flow behavior such as shear layers and vortex structures downstream of large ice accretions. A comprehensive research program to understand and control the behavior of Aircraft Wake Vortices has been initiated. This activity consists of theoretical and experimental investigation of all aspects of the behavior of longitudinal vortex filaments typical of those generated by aircraft wingtips. Experimental efforts, centered on tests performed in a water tunnel, have resulted in the development of a unique data acquisition technique for the quantitative measurement of the time dependent motion of these filaments in space. Aircraft Structures/Solid Mechanics Research activities in the
following general areas of solid mechanics and advanced composite materials are in
progress: A number of research programs in advanced composite materials are underway. These include the following: FAA AACE Damage Tolerance of Composite Airframe Structures, an investigation of the damage resistance and tolerance characteristics of sandwich structures; FAA AACE Adhesive Behavior in Aircraft Applications, an investigation of various certification-related issues that arise in the applications of adhesive joining; FAA AACE Bonded Repair of Composite Airframe Components, a project to characterize the effects of several bonded repair variables and the strength of the repairs using various experimental methods to determine the effectiveness of the repair; AGATE Composite Material Database, a NASA advanced materials program to produce FAA approved certification methods for the use of composite materials within the general aviation community; AGATE Methodology for Notched and Unnotched Design Allowables, a program to produce data regarding the notched and unnotched allowables for selected material systems; AGATE Material Equivalence Methodology, a program to develop a reduced testing methodology for a composite material system that has a pre-existing design allowable database; AGATE Manufacturing Integration Document; a project to document all that has been learned over the past six years in AGATE-sponsored research into general aviation manufacturing methods; Effects of Manufacturing Defects, an ongoing effort to perform structural testing and characterization to establish the effects of manufacturing defects on the static and fatigue strength of nacelle honeycomb core sandwich structures; Impact of Aircraft Operation on Composite Airframe Temperatures; a program to measure the impact of convective cooling on composite aircraft structures, as a result of aircraft operations and flight. Aerospace engineering faculty
members are also involved in the Undergraduate Research Education in Composite Materials,
a multi-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. This grant provides
funding for 10 undergraduate students each year to have a supervised research experience
in composite materials. Flight Mechanics and Controls Research efforts have been
initiated to validate an algorithm for automatic recovery from a spin. The process
consists of the following steps: acquisition of hardware and software, construction of an
"iron bird" to check out the control system in a bench test, installation and
checking of the I/O boards to be used, data input for simulation, perform simulation to
assist in determining required inertia properties, construction of scaled aircraft model,
and flight testing. Related Links:
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