A team of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory researchers has launched a three-year experiment that aims to determine the state of the thin layer of air near the surface of hypersonic vehicles.
APL said Wednesday the Boundary Layer Transition effort seeks to help developers identify materials to produce hypersonic aircraft and missiles, as well as calculate the controllability and aerodynamic drag of such platforms.
The BOLT researchers will perform computational and wind-tunnel assessments to measure the boundary layer transition in hypersonic flights.
The research team will conduct the experiment using a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Representatives from the University of Minnesota, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, CUBRC, NASA’s Langley Research Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory and VirtusAero will also contribute to the hypersonic study.