The UF’s College of Engineering will research how high-speed planes and unmanned aerospace vehicles can change shape while flying.
A $5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force will fund the research, a collaboration between UF and the joint college of engineering at Florida State University and Florida A&M University. The grant allows the universities to create the Center of Excellence named AEROMORPH—aerospace morphing via integrated sense, assess and respond.
Patrick Musgrave, UF’s principal investigator for the research and assistant professor, compared the research to a bird overhead. He said the bird never stays still; it’s constantly beating or angling its wings, turning its head or arranging its feathers.
Similarly, the research will develop how to allow aircraft at supersonic (faster than sound) and hypersonic speeds (five times the speed of sound) to adjust midflight.
“Can these human-created, high-speed, aerospace vehicles be able to feel the air and then morph their bodies to respond—to be more agile, to change their course, to respond to turbulence,” Musgrave said in an interview.
A key piece of the puzzle will be computing speed. At high speeds, the sensing and adjusting must also happen at super rates.
“The conventional way that we’ve done sensing and computing with onboard computers hasn’t cut It to try and really address these problems,” Musgrave said. “So we’re trying to develop new methods that allow us to sense and respond quicker.”
The grant will allow seven professors, four at UF and three between FSU and FAMU, along with undergraduate and graduate students to participate. The research is scheduled for three years with a possible two-year extension.
The work will combine sectors like information theory, network science, fluid-structure interactions, experimental aerodynamics and other disciplines.
Musgrave said the project could open other research avenues to explore.
“Once we can start showing what’s possible, where are the really promising areas, then that’s where this collaboration with the Air Force can really take off,” Musgrave said. “The Air Force can start working in parallel to our efforts to develop systems that are specific to what they’re interested in.”
Besides the research, Musgrave said the grant provides great workforce development opportunities. As students work with Eglin and Wright-Patterson Air Force bases on the research, he said doors could open for jobs down the line.
William Oates, chair of the FAMU-FSU Department of Mechanical Engineering, said the research will have applications for civilian aircraft and energy sectors.
“This facility and partnership will serve as the nexus for designing, modeling and testing integrated aerospace systems and structures,” Oates said. “It will support students and faculty, promote discovery of new intelligent aerospace systems, and help create a workforce of aerospace engineers for the Air Force Research Laboratory and industry partners.”