Dr. Chris Combs, an expert in high-speed aerodynamics, is leading a team from The University of Texas at San Antonio researching hypersonic separation events using modeling and experimental measurements. Partnered with Lockheed Martin, the research team was awarded $1.5 million in 2020 by the Department of Defense through the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH) which is administered by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
This project is designed to study the separation of materials moving at hypersonic speeds, a common challenge in hypersonic flight. Currently, it is difficult to model these separations using computational models alone. This research explores the common aerodynamic issue by using controlled hypersonic experiments and computational data to further examine stage separation, booster drop-off and fairing separation. The team will combine the experimental data and feed it into computations to improve models, while insight from computations will guide targeted experiments.
University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics
Managed by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH) is a five-year, $20 million-per-year U.S. Department of Defense initiative for modernizing hypersonic flight capabilities.