Automated design and fabrication of inlet flow distortion
This technology is a software-driven design process for creating custom flow-conditioning vanes — physical structures that redirect airflow inside aircraft engine inlets or ducts into a precise, desired pattern. An engineer inputs the target airflow profile and the system computes the exact 3D geometry of vanes needed to achieve it, then sends that geometry directly to a 3D printer or other manufacturing system. The result is a physical vane installed at a critical aerodynamic measurement point on an aircraft that produces a controlled, reproducible airflow condition. This is particularly useful for engine testing, where engineers need to simulate specific distorted or tailored airflow conditions entering an engine.
What you could build
A design-to-manufacture software tool and associated fabricated hardware service for producing custom inlet flow distortion screens or guide vanes, sold to aerospace OEMs, engine test facilities, and defense contractors running propulsion system qualification tests.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia has significant defense aerospace presence — NASA Langley, the Air Force test community, and primes like Boeing and Raytheon with Virginia facilities — all of which run engine inlet testing programs that require exactly this kind of hardware.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Anthony M. Ferrar, William C. Schneck, Walter F. O'Brien, Kevin M. Hoopes, Justin Bailey
- Granted
- April 4, 2023
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 11620415
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.