← All projects active 2025–2027
Design of Aerothermal Protection Systems for Cargo Downmassing Design and analysis of thermal protection systems for high-speed atmospheric entry vehicles used to return cargo to Earth, addressing aerothermal loading during hypersonic reentry.
Sponsor U.S. Air Force (subcontract through Cardinal Engineering)
Funding $295,000
Collaborators Cardinal Engineering Team Lab Director / Associate Professor
Computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, rotorcraft and hypersonic aerodynamics
SL
M.S. Student
Reentry vehicle design; inflatable heat shields and control
CB
M.S. Student
Downmassing payload aerodynamics
DM
Undergraduate Researcher
Downmassing payload CFD
Related Publications 2026
Water Droplet Breakup in a Hypersonic Shock Environment M Lindsay, SM Briggs, AJ Aguilera, S Vasu, M Kinzel, S Grace, et al.
AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum, 1736, 2026
2026
A Semi-Empirical Model of the Heatshield Separation: Application to Titan EG Clutter, M Kinzel, P do Vale Pereira
AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum, 0702, 2026
2026
Effect of Entrapped Non-condensable Gas on Shock-Driven Droplet Deformation: Implications for Hypersonic Rain Environments JP Roldan, B Cavainolo, R Shannon, GA Jaramillo, S Grace, M Kinzel
27th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies …, 2026
2025
Entry Capsule Heatshield Transpiration Cooling Effects Observed in Boundary Layer C Anderson, MP Kinzel, AJ Brune
AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 1038, 2025
2025
Dragonfly: An Evaluation of the Unsteady Aerodynamics of Heatshield Separation on Titan EG Clutter, MP Kinzel
AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 2549, 2025
2025
Strategies in CFD Modeling: Hypersonic Cargo Delivery Gliders Multidisciplinary Design Optimization SA Lopez, ZA Miles, MP Kinzel
AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 1923, 2025
2024
DragonFly: A Study of the Effect of the Heatshield Separation EG Clutter, M Kinzel
AIAA AVIATION FORUM AND ASCEND 2024, 3935, 2024
2024
A Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Cavitation on Hypersonic Shock-Raindrop Interaction and Breakup R Forehand, K Nguyen, SM Briggs, N Berube, S Vasu, MP Kinzel, et al.
AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, 2192, 2024
2024
Numerical Implementation of Source Terms to Evaluate Active Porosity Control using a Transpiration Cooled Thermal Protection System C Anderson, M Kinzel, AJ Brune
AIAA AVIATION FORUM AND ASCEND 2024, 3542, 2024
2024
Understanding Heat Transfer Effects on Hypersonic Flow: Implications for Aerodynamic Design K Pionessa, MP Kinzel
AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, 1971, 2024
2024
Data-driven modeling to predict aerodynamic loads on reentry vehicles ZA Miles, M Kinzel, S Lopez
AIAA AVIATION FORUM AND ASCEND 2024, 4410, 2024
2023
Numerical Evaluation of Entry System Trajectory Control via Active Porosity Control of Transpiration Cooled Thermal Protection System C Anderson, MP Kinzel
AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, 0391, 2023
2023
A Numerical Assessment of Hypersonic Raindrop Interaction: Understanding Cavitation-Induced Fragmentation R Forehand, K Nguyen, M Kinzel
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 2023
2023
Numerical Modeling of Compression Waves for Hypersonic Shock-Cylinder Interaction with Cavitation K Nguyen, R Forehand, M Kinzel, S Grace
Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 2023
2020
In-situ xrd characterization of multilayered ceramic composite systems for hypersonic applications J Hernandez, Q Fouliard, C Anderson, M Northam, K Vo, J Clabaugh, et al.
23rd AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies …, 2020
CFAL Computational Fluids and Aerodynamics Laboratory Department of Aerospace Engineering Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
© 2026 Computational Fluids and Aerodynamics Laboratory, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University