Fluid-thermal structural interactions on hypersonic vehicles

Flight at extreme speeds challenges the very best of our engineering abilities. The structures of high-speed vehicles are subjected to fluid-thermal-structural interactions in which the deformation of the structure, induced by the aerothermodynamic loads, can in turn influence this flow field and this coupling can detrimentally deform and even catastrophically damage the vehicle. The ability to develop efficient and economical high-speed aircraft is thus limited by our current capabilities in simulating and predicting these complex interactions.

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