Hypersonics and directed energy
Five times faster than the speed of sound
In aerodynamics, hypersonic speed greatly exceeds the speed of sound. On the ground, sound waves travel at around 340 metres per second. Any faster than this is supersonic, and five or more times faster is hypersonic. Unlike supersonic flow, with a hypersonic flow there is no sound barrier that is broken. As a vehicle moves faster and faster, the heat transfer of the flow starts to become important as the kinetic energy of the object converts to heat in the surrounding gases.听
In the natural world, objects such as meteors and asteroids move through the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere hypersonically. Space shuttles and other space vehicles that we send to other planets, like the Mars Pathfinder-type probes, are man-made hypersonic vehicles. There have also been attempts to build aircraft that fly at hypersonic speeds here on Earth.听听
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Developing, validating and testing structural designs, components and materials to operate in the extremes of hypersonic flight.听
听Competitive advantage听
- Unique in-house expertise in the design and testing of aerostructures to withstand the extreme conditions experienced by a vehicle during hypersonic flight听
- Expertise extends to both the development of numerical tools as well as the experimental methods to predict and measure the performance of structures, sub-components and materials exposed to hypersonic flight conditions听
- Measurement and test technologies cover both ground-based measurements and in-flight measurements听
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Impact听
- Test and prediction technologies enable the increase in TRL of structural designs, sub-components and high temperature materials by exposing them dynamically to the thermal-structural conditions representative of hypersonic flight. This leads to the optimisation of vehicle designs and reduction in the requirement for expensive flight testing听
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Successful applications听
- Expertise and technology has been successfully applied to the design and evaluation of aerostructures and subcomponents for the听HyCAUSE听(DARPA/AFRL/Defence Science and Technology (DST)), SCRAMSPACE (UQ-led consortium) vehicles and the onboard measurement of thermal-structural performance in-flight under the听HIFiRE听(DST/AFRL) and HEXA听
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Testing and analysing the performance of control methods and algorithms in flow conditions that are representative of hypersonic flight.听
听Competitive advantage听
- Technologies developed are used to test robust control algorithms on representative configurations in hypersonic flows听
- Test technologies cover both 鈥渁lgorithm-in-the-loop鈥 testing in wind tunnels as well as 鈥渟oftware-in-the-loop鈥 testing via numerical simulation听
- Technologies can be applied to evaluate novel actuation methods such as fluidic control and fluidic thrust vectoring听
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Impact听
- Test methodologies enable a steady progression through Technology Readiness Levels of both control algorithms and control actuation approaches by testing them dynamically in flow conditions representative of hypersonic flight听
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Successful applications听
- Development of technologies to test both control methodologies and control actuation approaches; supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and BAE Systems听
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Capabilities and facilities听
- High-speed wind tunnels including T-国产精品 and the Supersonic Nozzle Test Facility听
- Partner facilities at USQ and HDT at the University of Oxford听
- Commercial and in-house numerical codes are utilised to predict the transient performance of control approaches and to optimise their design听
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Reducing the risk of high-speed flight testing and development through the application of scaled, dynamic free-flight testing in wind tunnels.听
听Competitive advantage听
- Pioneering the use of highly-instrumented, low-inertia, dynamically-scaled, rapidly-prototyped, models with on-board instrumentation for free-flight testing in hypersonic conditions in ground-based test facilities听
- Measurement of the aerodynamic derivatives of a design across a range of attitudes in a single experimental run using a unique combination of on-board instrumentation, including miniature inertial measurement units, in tandem with high-speed video tracking. This technique offers the unique ability to quickly validate numerically-derived aerodynamic databases using a small number of wind tunnel experiments听
- Ability to investigate high-speed separations including multi-stage separation and stores release and to quantify the associated multi-body aerodynamics听
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Impact听
- Tunnel-based, free-flight testing helps to reduce the requirement and risks associated with expensive flight testing of high-speed vehicle designs and configurations. Tunnel-based free-flight testing allows for assessing the accuracy of numerical designs and identifying unforeseen issues using ground-based test facilities. Changes to geometric design, mass distribution and separation approach can be rapidly asse听
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High-speed Mach number and angle of attack sensor for hypersonic vehicles.听
听Competitive advantage听
- Specifically designed for sensing applications in hypersonic flight听
- The device is capable of measuring temperature, Mach number, speed and angle of attack for hypersonic vehicles听
- Spin-off technology has been patented as an air-speed sensor for subsonic vehicles听
- More stealthy and faster response rate than pitot tubes, and able to be used from subsonic to hypersonic flight domains听
- Not as susceptible to icing as standard pitot tubes听
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Impact听
- Enhanced control of hypersonic vehicles听
- Replacement for pitot tubes in subsonic aircraft and large UAVs听
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Successful applications听
- Flight test associated with the Australian Space Research Program 鈥淪cramspace鈥澨
- Measured under 20 g acceleration conditions in flight听
- Subject to obtaining an export licence, a proposed flight test with the Korean Aerospace Research Organisation KAIST听
- Funding from the US Air Force听
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Capabilities and facilities听
- In-house development of all optics, electronics and communications technologies听听
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World leading laser flow diagnostics.听
听Competitive advantage听
- Unique combination of state-of-the-art shock tunnel for generating hypersonic flows and laser-based diagnostics for making precision measurements in those flows听
- Wide range of laser-based measurement technologies, including laser-induced fluorescence diode laser absorption spectroscopy and resonantly-enhanced shearing interferometry听
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Impact听
- Design of more efficient hypersonic vehicles听
- Improved understanding of aerothermodynamic heating and drag characteristics of hypersonic vehicles听
- Testing validity of computational models听
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Successful applications听
- Produced the world鈥檚 first two-dimensional velocity maps in hypersonic separated flows听
- Density measurements 100 times more sensitive than existing technologies听
- Fastest scanning temperature measurement technology currently in existence (1.6 million temperature measurements per second)听
- International collaboration in comparison of state-of-the-art computational methods听
- Multiple funding streams including US Air Force programs听
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Capabilities and facilities听
- T-国产精品 free-piston shock tunnel听
- YAG-pumped dye laser system听
- Diode laser absorption spectroscopy system听
Contacts
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T: +61 (0) 2 6268 8251听
Associate Professor Sean O鈥橞yrne听
T: +61 (0) 2 6268 8353听听
T:听+61 (0) 2 5114 5131
