Aero-Optical Characteristics of Turbulent Flow & Associated Sensor for Validation

This Phase II proposal presents a plan to provide the U.S. Air Force with a unique capability to understand and exploit the relationship between flow control mechanisms and aero-optics. The proposal builds upon a successful Phase I effort that compared existing and produced new flow control tools, as well as the necessary measurement and analytical tools that led to a concept feasibility demonstration. The demonstration proved the possibility of forcing a turbulent flow and its associated optical distortion into a state that is more favorable for aero-optical management. The basic idea is that by forcing the large scale structure of turbulent flow into a predictable state we can develop an optimal procedure for mitigating aero-optical distortion; for example, with adaptive optics. In Phase I we examined, compared, and demonstrated flow forcing concepts, as well as measurement tools for both the flow and wavefront sensing and propose to provide the best of these to the U.S. Air Force. During Phase II, specific tools will be refined, adapted and transferred to the USAF to provide a unique in-house capability to model, test and analyze the effectiveness of flow control in minimizing aero-optical degradation of wavefronts.