The Aerodynamics, Simulation and Control Group undertake experimental and computational research and education in the broad area of flight physics applied to aircraft, spacecraft, road and marine vehicles, as well as to the energy sector.
Flight physics encompasses the gas dynamics of the flow around vehicles and systems, the control of such vehicles in dynamic environments and the simulation of the operation of them with pilots or drivers. As an engineering discipline, it as close to physics as we get, and uses mathematics extensively to describe the complex physics and to build models for design and analysis. The turbulent flow of a fluid is the last major unsolved problem of classical physics, and is at the very heart of flight physics. Aerodynamicists have to predict accurately the flow of an invisible medium where no exact mathematical model exists, and then apply these predictions to the design of complex vehicles with an accuracy that ensures that these will operate safely and reliably and at minimum cost for millions of hours and operational cycles without ever failing.
The Aerodynamics, Simulation and Control Group operate nine wind tunnels, with flow Mach numbers from near zero up to Mach 12, two of which are large industrial scale facilities, in addition to three industrial scale flight simulators for research. Our research clients include international organizations from around the world including governmental research organizations (including NATO, NASA, ONERA, ESA.), industrial aerospace primes (including Boeing, Airbus, BAe Systems, Vertical Aerospace) and car manufacturers (including Ford and Red Bull). Our team of academics, many of whom have spent time in industry, undertake both fundamental research as well as development work in real projects with industry – such as the INVICTUS hypersonic test be aircraft for the European Space Agency.
MSc in Aerospace Dynamics
The Aerodynamics, Simulation and Control Group run the Cranfield MSc in Aerospace Dynamics. This is the only degree course in the UK that trains students to become both experimental flight test engineers and wind tunnel test engineers, providing them uniquely, with access to test in industrial scale wind tunnels, and on real aircraft. Students on this program are offered the opportunity to have pilot experience flights, learning with an experienced test pilot, the basics of how to fly a light aircraft.
Our research
The Aerodynamics, Simulation and Control Group work with the worlds premier aerospace organisations, whether national government research centres or global manufacturing companies. Our staff contribute to, and lead, NATO research activities, working with NASA, ONERA (French Aerospace Laboratory) and DLR (German Aerospace Research Centre), as well as on other international collaborative projects such as GARTEUR and EU Horizon projects. Some recent projects, among many others, that our group have or continue to work on are:.
OneHEART, was a major national project funded by the UK Government, through its Aerospace Technology Institute funding programme, to aid Airbus UK to develop its next generation of computational design tools, able to cope with non-conventional design configurations, including blended wing bodies, strut-braced winged designs and boundary layer ingestion propulsion concepts. Cranfield’s contribution was the development and demonstration of appropriate fidelity design tools where our group focussed on rapid aerodynamics and dynamics and control methods. The project ended in 2025, with a world first pilot-in-the-loop, design sprint resulting in a stable and efficient aircraft design with detailed structural layout, control and fuel systems design that met Airbus specifications..
INVICTUS is an international collaborative program funded by the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA), and managed by Frazer-Nash consultancy, to develop a test bed unmanned hypersonic aircraft for flight testing hypersonic airbreathing propulsion technology. Cranfield staff from our group led the design of the control system for the vehicle, and participated, with Short Brothers and Frazer-Nash, in the airframe design. The first INVICTUS flight is scheduled for 2032, and is an example of Cranfield University contributing to a real aircraft program – in this case the fastest ever European aircraft if successfully flown at Mach 5..
ICED CRM is an EPSRC and UK Government funded project to investigate and generate the first high Reynolds number data on the effect Appendix-O icing on aircraft wings. This type of ice, which accumulates on the leading edge of aircraft wings passing through ice clouds, is particularly problematic in reducing the performance of aircraft. The project was the first official collaboration between Boeing and Airbus on a scientific project, and involved a Cranfield led test at the European Transonic Wind Tunnel (ETW) – one of the worlds two cryogenic test facilities for aerodynamics. The Cranfield team is leading an international consortia, involving NASA, Airbus, Boeing, and others, to use this experimental data to identify how best to use computational fluid dynamics for predict these icing shapes. .
Exaelia is an EU funded project, involving a large consortia of companies and universities across Europe, to undertake design studies for a number of novel concept aircraft demonstrators, incorporating new technologies for performance and environmental impact improvements. Cranfield University is responsible for the work package involving the development of a sub-scale blended wing body (BWB) aircraft test bed to flight test this class of future aircraft and associated technologies for European industry. Members of our group are studying the fundamental problems of aerodynamic stall and control of such transonic BWB configurations, using wind tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics, to feed into the design activity for the flying test bed. This is another example of our team contributing to an actual aircraft program..
Our facilities
The Group operates a number of wind tunnels, one of which – the 8ft by 6ft low speed tunnel, is a strategic national facility within the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF). Our Hypersonic Gun Tunnel is one of only three in the UK, making Cranfield one of only four UK academic institutions with an experimental hypersonic test capability. The Aerodynamics, Simulation and Control Group work closely with Cranfield’s National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC) which operates a SAAB 340B, a Scottish Aviation Bulldog and a Slingsby Firefly aircraft for educational and scientific testing projects. The group manage the scientific aspect of our flying program.
