Who would have thought that 7 years go by so quickly at the University of Florida. This year I am teaching introduction to computational fluid dynamics. The last time I taught it was before COVID in the fall of 2020. I am working on a new design program for nozzles. I am basing it on …
Category Archives: Aerospace
DARPA Director’s Fellow
I am very fortunate to be awared the 2023-2024 DARPA Director’s Fellowship. The linked article from my department is at the following link: https://mae.ufl.edu/2023/08/09/darpa-directors-fellowship-awarded-to-steven-a-e-miller/ The article text is below Associate Professor Steven A. E. Miller, Ph.D., is awarded the Director’s Fellowship from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for 2023-2024. The award recognizes technical …
AIAA Paper: Fully-Parabolized Prediction of Hypersonic Sonic Boom
Abstract: Hypersonic flight-vehicles create shock and expansion waves that propagate through the atmosphere and are observed on the ground as sonic booms. We present a methodology to predict the near-field aerodynamic pressure and sonic boom signature using approximately 1% of the computational cost relative to fully-nonlinear computational fluid dynamics and state-ofthe-art sonic boom propagation solvers. …
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Reflection on Twenty Years Since the Loss of Columbia
Graduate Student Garrison S. Osborne and Steven A. E. MillerUniversity of Florida Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Well before the loss of Columbia, the NASA Office of Technology Assessment wrote, “Shuttle reliability is uncertain, but has been estimated to range between 97 and 99 percent. If the Shuttle reliability is 98 percent, there would …
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Aeroacoustic and Aerodynamic Interaction Effects Between eVTOL Rotors
My student presented his MS thesis on the aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of rotors. Abstract: Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are characterized by their unconventional wing and electric rotor configurations, which involve both side-by-side and tandem rotor configurations. These configurations create unique aerodynamic and aeroacoustic flow-fields. We numerically investigate the interaction effects between rotor …
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On Large Language Models (AI) and Aerospace Education
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing all aspects of our lives, much like the internet did when it became widely available to consumers in the mid-1990s. There are many discussions about how the AI revolution has affected different areas, including the workplace, art, culture, writing, and academics. Recently, the “ChatGPT: Optimizing Language Models for Dialogue” has …
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Additional Thoughts on Pressure
I am obsessed with pressure, particularly the internal pressure of fluids. Unlike viscosity, it is absent of frictional forces, and it is a key driving force in both human behavior and aerospace flows. Pressure is an essential component of a perfect fluid and appears on the right-hand side of the Navier-Stokes equations. Without pressure, fluid …
A simplified semi-empirical model for long-range low-frequency noise propagation in the turbulent atmosphere
My student, Dr. Tianshu Zhang, and myself recently published a modified long range acoustic propagation model that handles turbulence in the atmosphere. The abstract is We present a semi-empirical long-range low-frequency acoustic propagation model, which accounts for atmospheric turbulence. Ostashev and Wilson’s scattering model is combined with a ray-theory based refraction model to account for …
Caverns of the Wind
Silent are the caverns of the wind, But within them, a secret lies pinned Like Pandora’s box, locked up tight Holding within, a glimmer of light For in these tunnels, dreams did reside And hope for the future, they did provide But like Pandora’s box, they were lost Their secrets stolen, at a great cost …