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AFIT is conducting research to harness the flexibility of Additive Manufacturing (AM), specifically Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) processes to enhance micropropulsionand external surfaces for hypersonic vehicles.  For micropropulsion, the effects of AM surface quality on flow and thrust production in small, low Reynold’s number nozzles is being investigated, both analytically and experimentally to assess the drawbacks in terms of propulsive losses, as balanced by the significant cost savings available using the DMLS parts.  In hypersonics, AM is being studied in conjunction with CFD studies of internal cooling flows and Topology Optimization (TO) of structural elements to generate more optimal leading edge or nose surfaces, capable of withstanding the thermal and structural loads of hypersonic flight. AFIT’s progress in both of these areas will be presented.

Dr. Hartsfield is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). He received a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technologyin 1991; a MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2001; and a PhD in Astronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2006.

Dr. Hartsfield is a former faculty member of The Ohio State University, former space sensor payload program manager, and retired USAF Lt Col. His research interests include space and rocket propulsion and optimal design of spacecraft, including integration and testing of spacecraft. Dr. Hartsfield’s research focuses on experimental evaluation and diagnostics for space propulsion, analytic evaluation of spacecraft design, and applications of additive manufacturing for optimal spacecraft structures. He served as an invited space propulsion session co-chair at a 2011 NASA GRC HBCUOMI Outreach Symposium, as a session chair at the 2011 and 2012 Dayton/Cincinnati Aerospace Sciences Symposia, and as deputy chair for the technical program and session chair at the 2016 Dayton/Cincinnati Aerospace Sciences Symposium. Dr. Hartsfield is a member of AIAA, Sigma Gamma Tau and the American Society for Engineering Education.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Carl Hartsfield (2017), "Thrust Coefficient Losses in Additively Manufactured Low Thrust Nozzles," https://nanohub.org/resources/26633.

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