113th NIA CFD Seminar: Scramjet Ground Testing and Control Approaches
Date: Friday, April 26, 2019
Time: 11am-noon (EDT)
Room: NIA, Rm137
Speaker: Christopher Goyne
Link: http://nia-mediasite.nianet.org/NIAMediasite100/Catalog/Full/c40f721b665a4091b7d8bcb6a128fdbd21
Speaker Bio: Dr. Christopher Goyne is an Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Director of the Aerospace Research Laboratory at the University of Virginia. Dr. Goyne obtained a Ph.D. and Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland in Australia. He has 25 years of research experience in the fields of high-speed aerodynamics, diagnostic development, controls and scramjet ground and flight testing. Dr. Goyne has published and presented his research through 150 international journal articles, conference publications, patents, reports and invited presentations. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and, within this organization, is a past Chair of the Hypersonic Technology and Aerospace Planes Program Committee. Dr. Goyne is currently the Chair of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium Advisory Council and a member of the Small Sat Virginia Initiative Steering Committee. He is also an Associate Editor for the Shock Waves journal.
Abstract: Modern numerical methods are playing an important role in the development and design of new scramjet concepts. However, in the same way it did for the Air Force X-51 and NASA X-43 programs, ground-based experimental testing is expected to form the core of near- and medium-term scramjet development. Ground-based experimental testing, however, does not enable a perfect simulation of flight conditions. The test medium is often not pure air, testing is usually subscale, and many boundary conditions, such as inflow velocity, temperature, density and Mach number, as well as wall temperatures, are not spatially or temporally matched. If scramjet performance and operation is to be fully understood and predicted, then the effects of these imperfect simulations must be quantified. This presentation will focus on some of the key test technique effects for a particular class of scramjet called a dual-mode scramjet. Specifically, the effect of test gas vitiation on combustion propagation and flameholding will be examined. Spatial and temporal non-uniformities in combustor thermal boundary conditions, including flow thermal non-equilibrium effects, will also be examined. With these concepts in mind, control approaches for dual-mode scramjet testing in wind tunnels will also be presented. Finally, given the potential application of scramjet propulsion to space access and the presenter’s role in higher education, the presentation will conclude with a description of a stimulating way to improve the pedagogy of undergraduate spacecraft design instruction using high altitude balloon flight testing and cubesats.