Embry-Riddle Research to Advance Testing for Hypersonic Materials

Embry-Riddle researchers will design a device to reproduce the extreme stress and heat fluctuations of hypersonic flight in order to more easily and economically test materials used for hypersonic vehicle development.

The work is supported by a $1.4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Hypersonics Transition Office though the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics. The project — a collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory — will use high-energy X-ray diffraction analysis to measure the degradation of materials that have been subjected to the extreme environment of the device.

“Hypersonic vehicles experience excessive heat fluxes and skin friction, which tend to degrade surface materials, especially over long-duration exposure,” said Dr. William Engblom, professor of Aerospace Engineering and the project’s principal investigator. “Finding materials that can handle these conditions, and that are also easily manufactured and not cost-prohibitive, is needed to enable hypersonic vehicles.”

The materials could be used for military aircraft, weapons and interceptors, as well as civilian aircraft and cargo delivery vehicles that travel at hypersonic speed, which is generally considered to be at least five times the speed of sound. Comprehensive testing of such materials requires a wind tunnel capable of producing an airflow with the high temperatures and pressures consistent with hypersonic flight — and is therefore difficult and expensive to achieve. The device proposed by Embry-Riddle would capture more detailed materials data in an intermediate, affordable test facility.

Dr. Mark Ricklick, associate professor of Aerospace Engineering, and Dr. Seetha Raghavan, professor of Aerospace Engineering, are co-principal investigators on the research. Industry representatives, including from Lockheed Martin and Boeing, are also involved.

“This affordable capability will increase access to materials testing for hypersonic environments, a serious hurdle stifling current hypersonic vehicle developments,” said Engblom.

“The work that Dr. Engblom’s team is engaging in has applications for hypersonic materials testing that can prospectively lead to affordability, availability and subsequent development,” said Dr. Jeremy Ernst, vice president for research and doctoral programs. “It is great to see the continued contributions of Embry-Riddle faculty in this important area.”

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