Steven Schneider

Steven P. Schneider

1989 - Professor

Degrees

B.S. ─ Caltech, Engineering and Applied Science, with Honor, June 1981
M.S. ─ Caltech, Aeronautics, June 1984
Ph.D. ─ Caltech, Aeronautics, March 1989

Contact

1375 Aviation Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Office: Room 13C AERO (Hangar 3) & ARMS 3216
Office Phone: (765) 494-3343
Office Fax: (765) 496-3321

Interests

Hypersonic and supersonic laminar-turbulent transition
Low-disturbance wind tunnels and associated instrumentation

Awards and Major Appointments

Fellow, AIAA
AIAA Ground Testing Award, 2012

Research Areas

High-speed laminar-turbulent transition is critical for applications including missiles for survivable time-critical strike, hypersonic reconnaissance vehicles, thermal protection for re-entry vehicles, drag reduction on supersonic transports, and flow noise and heat transfer above IR windows on interceptor missiles. Unfortunately, nearly all existing high-speed experimental results are contaminated by facility noise, such as that radiating from the turbulent boundary layers normally present on the test-section walls of supersonic tunnels. Just as at low speeds, reliable experimental progress requires low-turbulence wind tunnels with noise levels comparable to those in flight.

Mechanism-based prediction methods are being developed to reduce the uncertainty in predicting transition on future flight vehicles. Measurements of the instability mechanisms leading to transition are being carried out to support the development and validation of these new methods. However, no single wind tunnel can simultaneously simulate all aspects of transition in flight, including Mach number, Reynolds number, enthalpy, freestream disturbances, surface ablation and so on. Furthermore, although computational advances are critical, all computations require models that must be based on experimental results. Effective progress requires cooperation between theory, computation and experiment, and also between system designers and researchers.

Prof. Schneider continues to focus on hypersonic transition and the development of quiet tunnels. However, Prof. Jewell has taken over the Mach-6 quiet tunnel, and Prof. Chynoweth is the lead engineer for the new Mach-8 quiet tunnel. Prof. Schneider has moved into a supporting role as a Senior Technical Expert. Some details are described at the following websites, which also contains general information about hypersonics: Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel and General Hypersonics Information

Publications

A brief sample is listed below:

Steven P. Schneider, "Developing Mechanism-Based Methods for Estimating Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Transition in Flight: The Role of Quiet Tunnels", Progress in Aerospace Sciences, v. 72, 2015, pp. 17-29.

Steven P. Schneider, "Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Transition with Ablation and Blowing", J. Spacecraft and Rockets, v. 47, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2010, 225-237

Steven P. Schneider, "Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Transition on Blunt Bodies with Roughness," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, v. 45, No. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2008, pp. 1090-1105.

Matthew P. Borg and Steven P. Schneider, "Effect of Freestream Noise on Roughness-Induced Transition for the X-51A Forebody," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, V. 45, No. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2008, pp. 1106-1116.

Steven P. Schneider, "The Development of Hypersonic Quiet Tunnels," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, V. 45, No. 4, July/August 2008, pp. 641-664.

Thomas J. Juliano, Steven P. Schneider, Selin Aradag, and Doyle Knight, "A Quiet-Flow Ludwieg Tube for Hypersonic Transition Research," AIAA Journal, V. 46, No. 7, July 2008, pp. 1757-1763.

Steven P. Schneider, "Effects of Roughness on Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, V. 45, No. 2, March-April 2008, pp. 193-209.

Steven P. Schneider, "Laminar-Turbulent Transition on Reentry Capsules and Planetary Probes," J. of Spacecraft and Rockets, vol. 43, no. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2006, pp. 1153-1173.

Steven P. Schneider, "Hypersonic Laminar-Turbulent Transition on Circular Cones and Scramjet Forebodies," Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 40, no. 1-2, Jan.-Feb. 2004, pp. 1–50.

Steven P. Schneider, "Effects of High-Speed Tunnel Noise on Laminar-Turbulent Transition," J. of Spacecraft and Rockets, vol. 38, no. 3, May-June 2001, pp. 323-333.

Steven P. Schneider, "Flight Data for Boundary-Layer Transition at Hypersonic and Supersonic Speeds," J. of Spacecraft and Rockets, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1999, pp. 8-20.

Conference Proceedings, Presentations, Invited Lectures

For some older references, see the folder for the Mach-6 tunnel website.
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