{"id":136975,"date":"2023-09-07T11:24:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T15:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=136975"},"modified":"2023-11-09T10:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T15:54:42","slug":"new-dod-funded-project-will-develop-morphing-hypersonic-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/new-dod-funded-project-will-develop-morphing-hypersonic-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"New DOD-funded Project Will Develop Morphing Hypersonic Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new Naval Research Laboratory funded project led by a UCF researcher will work to create a morphing hypersonic engine for ultra-fast travel, building on UCF\u2019s already leading edge developing hypersonic propulsion.<\/p>\n

Hypersonic propulsion would allow for air travel at speeds of Mach 6 to 17, or more than 4,600 to 13,000 mph, and has applications in commercial and space travel. Although the technology has been around since the 1960s, countries including the U.S., Russia and China, are racing to improve the systems to achieve more efficient and longer, more sustained hypersonic flight.<\/p>\n

The $450,000 Naval Research Laboratory grant-funded project will develop a hypersonic engine that can morph or transform its configuration during flights to optimize performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost hypersonic engines are structurally fixed due to the challenging flight environment,\u201d says the project\u2019s principal investigator Kareem Ahmed, a professor in UCF\u2019s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering<\/a>. \u201cOur research will show the performance gains from an adaptable engine configuration that would self-optimize its surfaces to maximize performance power, thrust and travel distance which is the first of its kind for hypersonic engines.\u201d<\/p>\n