AFRL/AFOSR Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 University Center for High-Speed Aerothermoelasticity
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research seeks a U.S. university-led team of up to ten investigators to establish a center studying high-speed fluid mechanics, thermal transport, and structural mechanics.
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Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Due Dates: November 13, 2026 (Questions) | January 22, 2027 (White paper) | April 2, 2027 (Full proposal)
Funding Amounts: $8.25 million over three years, with options up to $13.75 million over five years
Summary: Supports a U.S. university-led center investigating fundamental interactions among high-speed fluid mechanics, thermal transport, and structural mechanics.
Key Information: A white paper is mandatory, and only invited teams are eligible to submit full proposals.
Description
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), in partnership with AFRL’s Air Warfare Directorate (AFRL/RA), seeks a multidisciplinary university team to establish a Center for High-Speed Aerothermoelasticity. The center will integrate computational simulation, theoretical modeling, and ground experimentation to investigate coupled fluid, thermal, and structural physics relevant to high-supersonic and hypersonic flight.
Research should complement AFRL/RA flight experiments and address phenomena such as panel flutter, thermal buckling, and other fluid-thermal-structural interactions in reusable high-speed vehicles. Potential approaches include surrogate modeling, data assimilation or machine learning, uncertainty analysis, transitional boundary-layer and nonuniform-heating studies, modal decomposition, and diagnostics connecting ground tests to flight experiments. The program also aims to strengthen connections between university researchers and Air Force scientists while developing the future aerospace workforce.
