Aerodynamics of Hypersonic Flight

Rarefaction Effects in Hypersonic Aerodynamics

Abstract. The Direct Simulation Monte-Carlo (DSMC) technique is used for numerical analysis of rarefied-gas hypersonic flows near a blunt plate, wedge, two side-by-side plates, disk, torus, and rotating cylinder. The role of various similarity parameters (Knudsen and Mach numbers, geometrical and temperature factors, specific heat ratios, and others) in aerodynamics of the probes is studied. Im...

Bat flight: aerodynamics, kinematics and flight morphology.

Bats evolved the ability of powered flight more than 50 million years ago. The modern bat is an efficient flyer and recent research on bat flight has revealed many intriguing facts. By using particle image velocimetry to visualize wake vortices, both the magnitude and time-history of aerodynamic forces can be estimated. At most speeds the downstroke generates both lift and thrust, whereas the f...

The Aerodynamics of Hummingbird Flight

Plasma Telemetry in Hypersonic Flight

Problems associated with telemetry blackout caused by the plasma sheath surrounding a hypersonic vehicle are addressed. In particular, the critical nature of overcoming this limitation for test and evaluation purposes is detailed. Since the telemetry blackout causes great concern for atmospheric cruise vehicles, ballistic missiles, and reentry vehicles, there have been many proposed approaches ...

The aerodynamics of flight in an insect flight-mill

Predicting the dispersal of pest insects is important for pest management schemes. Flight-mills provide a simple way to evaluate the flight potential of insects, but there are several complications in relating tethered-flight to natural flight. We used high-speed video to evaluate the effect of flight-mill design on flight of the red palm weevil (Rynchophorous ferruginneus) in four variants of ...