A patented innovation from Louisiana State University (LSU) is poised to dramatically accelerate the design process for rockets and supersonic aircraft, offering engineers an unprecedented level of insight into high-speed airflows. Ingmar Schoegl, an LSU associate professor of mechanical engineering, has developed and patented an easy-to-use version of Schlieren imaging – a technology used for over 150 years to visualize invisible airflows.
Traditionally, Schlieren images, often seen in black-and-white photos of bullets in flight surrounded by shock waves, are notoriously difficult and time-consuming to calibrate. “If someone bumps into anything, even if one of the components is shaken, you’re back to recalibrating,” Schoegl explained. This process can take hours to days, a significant and costly hurdle when renting high-tech wind tunnels for testing hypersonic designs.
Schoegl’s breakthrough eliminates these calibration woes. His patented technique requires only a camera, Schlieren optics, and a viewscreen, with software handling the precise alignment in mere minutes. More remarkably, his invention introduces color patterns to encode directional airflow data, a pioneering feature for Schlieren imaging tools. This allows for the visual representation of complex data such as temperature, pressure, or chemical changes within the airflow. The focusing Schlieren technique also enables users to pinpoint specific locations within the airflows and isolate the most minute details.
“A lot of things happen when you go very fast, so it’s really important to understand what shock wave structures look like. Shock waves can redirect air in unexpected ways, hiding the entrance to an aircraft engine rather than forcing air through it,” Schoegl highlighted. “If that happens, the engine doesn’t work properly and the plane doesn’t fly, much less create the thrust needed to achieve hypersonic speeds (3,336 mph or more).”
This innovation is particularly timely given the rapid growth in the hypersonic weapons market, estimated at $6.8 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $14.5 billion by 2030.
“LSU is thrilled to be at the leading edge of innovation for spacecraft and hypersonic aircraft,” said Robert Twilley, LSU Vice President of Research and Economic Development. “Breakthroughs like this help build on LSU’s efforts to secure our nation and continue our commitment to service while investing in military science and technology.”
Schoegl collaborated with LSU Innovation’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) to patent his invention and make it available for licensing. “A tool that can shorten the development runway could be quite valuable,” added Daniel Felch, Senior Commercialization Officer with LSU Innovation & Technology Commercialization. “We’re excited about the possibilities and look forward to working with firms interested in licensing Dr. Schoegl’s technology.”
LSU’s ITC plays a crucial role in protecting and commercializing the university’s intellectual property, transferring early-stage inventions into the marketplace for societal benefit, and managing federal invention reporting.
