Summary of Current Department & Faculty Research

Besides academic activities, the Aerospace Engineering department and faculty are responsible for a substantial amount of research. Much of this work is conducted collaboratively with industry and government. The theoretical, computational, experimental, and applied research efforts fall generally into three major areas:

• Aerodynamics/Fluid Mechanics
• Aircraft Structures/Solid Mechanics/Composites/Materials
• Flight Mechanics/Controls/Simulation

The following sections summarize current faculty research interests & activities.

Dr. Animesh Chakravarthy - Research interests include flight dynamics & controls and multi-vehicle systems.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Bio-inspired and morphing flight dynamics and controls
• Path planning of autonomous vehicles in dynamic environments
• Dynamics and control of time-varying systems
• Systems of interconnected vehicles
• Partial differential equation based modeling of multi-vehicle systems

Dr. Klaus A. Hoffmann, PhD Coordinator and Marvin J. Gordon Distinguished Professor - Research interests include supersonic and hypersonic flows, aero-acoustics, computational fluid dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics and bio-fluids.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Development and application of computer codes for Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS), including high speed turbulent flows (e.g., jet exhaust, Chevron design, heat transfer)
• Development and application of computer codes for Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), including boundary conditions and flow control
• Code development and application for Bio-fluids applications, including blood flow in arteries, heart valves, around knee and hip implants, and with pharmaceuticals
• Development of codes for parallel computing
• Noise prediction schemes for aircraft interior
• Computation of chemically reacting hypersonic flows
• Application of CFD to solar energy and wind energy developments

Dr. Walter Horn - Research interests include structural analysis, solid mechanics, fracture mechanics, damage tolerance, fatigue, structural health monitoring, and wind turbines.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Composite panel damage detection using ultrasonic testing and neural networks
• Crack propagation analysis using acoustic emission sensors for structural health monitoring systems 
• Application of probabilistic fracture mechanics for life prediction of metallic materials
• Neural network analysis of acoustic emission sensors for structural health monitoring systems
• Neural network approach of active ultrasonic signals for structural health monitoring
• Investigation of multi-material bird models for predicting impact loads during bird strikes
• Investigation of material density variations for predicting bird impact loads
• Investigation of equations of state models for predicting bird impact loads

Dr. Suresh Keshavanarayana - Research interests include Aircraft structures/solid mechanics/composites.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Generation of fatigue based severity factors for fastener joints
• Dynamic characterization of composite materials
• Scaling effects on the tensile strain rate sensitivity of composite materials
• Load signal modulation in dynamic tension and shear tests
• Statistical Analysis program for computing design allowables for composites
• Study of disbonds in adhesively bonded skin-stringer panels using cohesive elements
• Tearing of honeycomb core cell walls in sandwich structures

Dr. Linda Kliment - Research interests include applied aerodynamics and flight mechanics.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Experimental investigation of wake vortex filaments.  Dynamics and stability of the vortex are studied. 
• Operational flight loads data is collected for a variety of aircraft.  The usage information and flight loads are analyzed. 

Dr. L. Scott Miller, Chair & Director of NASA in Kansas - Research interests include experimental aerodynamics, airfoil design, aircraft design, rotor aerodynamics, and engineering education.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Low-Reynolds number propeller performance measurement, prediction, and design
• Small unmanned aircraft design, construction, and testing
• Airfoil performance enhancement using passive techniques
• Use of experiential and historical case studies to enhance engineering education

Dr. Roy Myose - Teaching interests include biofluid mechanics, astrodynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, and engineering mechanics.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Low-Reynolds number cascade aerodynamics
• Delta wings under dynamic conditions
• Enhanced jet flow mixing using chevron-shaped nozzles

Dr. Michael Papadakis - Research interests include aircraft icing, theoretical/experimental/computational aerodynamics. Current/recent research includes the following:

• CFD analysis of pivot door and cascade thrust reversers
• Development and testing of electro-expulsive ice protection systems for UAV 
• Testing of hybrid ice protection systems for engine inlets
• Experimental and computational investigation of ice shedding from aircraft surfaces
• Development and testing of bleed air ice protection system for aircraft applications
• CFD and parametric analysis of hot air ice protection systems
• Experimental and numerical investigation of the aerodynamic effects of ground anti-icing fluids
• Spray rig development and testing for icing tankers
• Experimental and computational investigations of the effects of roughness, simulated ice shapes, and contamination on aircraft aerodynamic performance
• Aircraft ice accretion analysis and experimental investigation of large droplet impingement dynamics

Dr. Kamran Rokhsaz, MS Coordinator and Associate Dean - Research interests include theoretical and applied aerodynamics, flight mechanics.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Analysis of operational data collected by flight data recorders to develop ground-air-ground usage statistics and flight loads exceedance spectra, for a variety of aircraft.
• Development of a fault tolerant flight control system, including aeroelastics effects, for application on general aviation aircraft.
• Theoretical and experimental investigation of dynamics and stability of wake vortex filaments. 

Dr. James Steck - Research interests include aircraft flight controls, artificial neural networks, quantum computing, flight simulation, and acoustics. Current/recent research includes the following:

• Integrated resilient adaptive aircraft control for general aviation
• Structural health monitoring of aircraft
• Health monitoring of wind turbines
• Lightning protection of composite aircraft
• Quantum neural computing and quantum learning
• EEG (brainwave) control of aircraft

Dr. Charles Yang, Boeing Global Engineering Leadership Professor - Research interests include solid mechanics, mechanics of materials, mechanics of advanced composite materials, adhesively bonded joints.  Current/recent research includes the following:

• Bonded repair of composite airframe laminate and sandwich structures
• Characterization of adhesive properties for the development of progressive damage growth analysis
• Analysis of composite scarf-patch-repair

Dr. Brandon T. Buerge - Research interests include Unmanned Aerial System/Lighter-Than-Air vehicles. Current/recent research includes the following:

• Teaching and curriculum development (at the university and middle-school levels)
• Concept-level aircraft and airship design
• Propulsion system modeling and optimization
• Flight and ground testing
• Performance analysis
• Experimental aerodynamics research

Compiled Fall 2011 & updated Spring 2013