Aero-Optical Flow Control for Mitigation of Shock Effects in Airborne Applications

ABSTRACT: Spectral Energies, LLC in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame and Georgia Tech proposes to develop flow control approaches for mitigating adverse effects of shock formation, unsteadiness, and shock-induced separation on aero optical turrets. The work will focus for the first time on an investigation of the effectiveness of several flow control approaches in a surrogate setup that will enable the isolation of these effects from the complex, geometry-specific 3-D, unsteady flow environment of specific turret configurations. The research work will comprise interactive investigations of the flow control mechanisms and their effects on mitigation of aero-optical distortions. The research team anticipates that the eventual outcome of the proposed effort will lead to a"toolbox"of flow-control devices/approaches/design strategies that would be applied to a wide variety of turret configurations. During Phase I and Phase II, the effect of shocks that form over the exit pupil for both flat windowed and conformal windows will be investigated and documented along with effective flow control approaches for suppression of their adverse effects. It is anticipated that the turret design tools and database developed under the proposed program will be applied to a broad range of military and civilian aero-optical applications including warfighter missions, laser communications, astronomy, and power beaming. BENEFIT: The commercial products foreseen from the proposed work are turret design concepts, flow control devices, methods, and strategies, aero-optics instrumentation, CFD tools, and wind tunnel database. These products will have significant impact on military applications including the ELLA, Laser Strike Fighter, High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), unmanned aerial vehicles, and aircraft surveillance systems. They also will have commercial applications such as in astronomy, laser communications, and power beaming.