Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. This research activity, involving Dr. Ligrani, and funded by the National Science Foundation, is in collaboration with Professor Danesh Tafti, and associated graduate students, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Underway are research activities, which address the ubiquitous presence of shock-turbulence interactions and their important role in the thermal management of engineering components associated with aerospace, aeronautical, rocket, scramjet, combustion, and turbomachinery technologies. The objective of this effort is enhancement of fundamental understanding of extreme thermal transport events associated with shock waves and high-speed turbulent flows by means of a careful coordination of numerical (VT) and experimental (UAH) approaches. High-speed flows can be classified as supersonic (1 < M < 5) or hypersonic (M >5), both entailing intense aerodynamic heating and drag, and propulsion system complexity. For example, supersonic combustion and wave drag phenomena are present, which illustrate the need for sophisticated thermal protection systems (TPS) because of high oxidizing air temperatures, which can be in excess of 2000 C. The overall technical goal is to gain an unprecedented look at thermal processes, such as turbulent/convective and shock-wave-induced turbulent transport, within the boundary layer and flow separation regions.

REFERENCES
Measurement and Determination of Local Film Cooling Performance Along a Transonic Turbine Blade Tip With Viscous Dissipation (P. M. Ligrani, H. Collopy, and W. Manneschmidt), Measurement Science and Technology, Vol. 33, Paper No. 065302, pp. 1-28, March 2022.

Statistical Analysis of Unsteady, Spatially-Varying Shock Wave Characteristics within a Supersonic Flow Environment (W. Manneschmidt, and P. M. Ligrani), International Journal of Statistics and Applications, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 13-19, July 2023.

Normal Shock Wave Coherence Relative to Other Flow Events With High and Low Levels of Inlet Mach Wave Unsteadiness (W. Manneschmidt, P. M. Ligrani, M. Sorrell, A. M. Ciccarelli, and B. Weigand), Shock Waves, Vol. 34, pages 497–513, November 2024.

Unsteady Relationships Between Instantaneous Surface Heat Flux, Instantaneous Surface Temperature, and Tracked Shock Wave Phenomena (M. Sorrell, W. Manneschmidt, and P. M. Ligrani), International Journal of Thermal Sciences, Vol. 208, Paper No. 109397, pp. 1-13, February 2025.

Coherent Interactions Between Test Section Inlet Unsteadiness, Surface Temperature Fluctuations, and Shock Wave Phenomena with Different Levels of Inlet Turbulence Intensity (W, Manneschmidt, and P. M. Ligrani), Paper Number AIAA-2025, 2025 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech Forum), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Hyatt Regency Orlando, Orlando, FL, USA, January 6-10, 2025.