IGF::OT::IGF NASA HAS DRAWN ATTENTION TO AN IMPENDING NEED TO IMPROVE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY IN LOW SUPERSONIC (…

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IGF::OT::IGF NASA HAS DRAWN ATTENTION TO AN IMPENDING NEED TO IMPROVE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY IN LOW SUPERSONIC (M<~3) PLATFORMS. AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY IS THE FOUNDATION OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT FLIGHT IN ANY REGIME, AND LOW DRAG IS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY. FOR SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT, DRAG CAN BE BROADLY DECOMPOSED INTO FOUR COMPONENTS: VISCOUS OR SKIN FRICTION DRAG, LIFTINDUCED DRAG, WAVE OR COMPRESSIBILITY DRAG, AND EXCRESCENCE DRAG. THE RELATIVE IMPACT OF THESE FOUR DRAG FORCES DEPENDS UPON VEHICLE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS AND DESIGN. HOWEVER, VISCOUS SKIN FRICTION DRAG STANDS OUT AS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT ACROSS MOST CLASSES OF FLIGHT VEHICLES. THEREFORE, EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE SKIN FRICTION DRAG ON A VEHICLE WILL HAVE A MAJOR AND FAR-REACHING IMPACT ON FLIGHT EFFICIENCY FOR LOW SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT. IN AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR INCREASED AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY OF LOW SUPERSONIC VEHICLES, PM&AM RESEARCH, IN COLLABORATION WITH TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, PROPOSE TO BUILD UPON OUR SUCCESSFUL PHASE I EFFORT TO MATURE/DEVELOP OUR NOVEL ENERGY DEPOSITION TECHNOLOGIES, USING BASIC, WELL-DEMONSTRATED ENERGY-DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES ALONG THE SURFACE IN SUPERSONIC FLOW TO CONTROL/COMPRESS/FORCIBLY-MOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLUID BY CREATING A LOWDENSITY "BUBBLE-LIKE" REGION, THEREBY REDUCING THE VISCOUS SKIN FRICTION. ONCE MATURED, THIS SOLUTION WILL REDUCE THE DRAG EXPERIENCED BY A LOW SUPERSONIC PLATFORM, ALLOWING VEHICLES TO EXHIBIT INCREASED AERODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY.