When
Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.
Jonathan Poggie
Professor
School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Purdue University
"Control of Separated Shock-Wave/Boundary-Layer Interactions"
AME Lecture Hall, Room S202 | Zoom link
Abstract: Unsteady separated flow acts like a hot hammer pounding on the structure of a hypersonic flight vehicle. Understanding and taming this adverse phenomenon is essential to the success of future hypersonic systems. Current practice in separation mitigation focuses on tabs and vortex generators that are ineffective and come with a high penalty in increased drag and heat transfer. Recent research, however, has shown that applying a specific pattern of active forcing has a profound effect on unsteady shock-wave/boundary layer interactions. Using an array of electric discharge actuators, which can cycle at frequencies as high as gigahertz, we have demonstrated effective control, in both high-fidelity computations and in experiments in the Purdue Mach 6 quiet wind tunnel.
Bio: Jonathan Poggie has been a professor at Purdue University in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics since 2015 Before joining Purdue, he was a research engineer in the Aerospace Systems Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory for 22 years. His research emphasis has been on large-scale computation, but early in his career he worked in wind tunnel experimentation, particularly on turbulent shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction. Poggie received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and his PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University. He has served as associate editor of the AIAA Journal and as chair of the AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Technical Committee. He is an ASME Fellow and AIAA Associate Fellow.