ZU C ROW L AB S

2 0 2 3
ANNUAL REPORT

Rotating detonation engines (RDEs) are the holy grail of

propulsion, and Zucrow Labs is helping to bring them
to life. Terrence Meyer’s lab hosts the THOR (Turbine-
integrated High-pressure Optical RDE) test rig, allowing
researchers to look inside the combustion chamber, and
use laser-based imaging to characterize RDEs’ complex
dynamics with millions of data points a second.

purdue.edu/zucrow Photo by Venkat Athmanathan

 Our founder, Maurice J. Zucrow, is an unsung hero in the
history of aerospace. After serving in World War I, he earned
Purdue University’s first ever Ph.D. in 1928 — and also earned
Maurice J. his nickname, “Doc.” He worked at Aerojet Corporation,
advising the design of the Atlas rocket that would launch

Zucrow John Glenn into orbit. In 1946 he wrote the jet industry’s first
textbook: Principles of Jet Propulsion and Gas Turbines. The
reputation of the book and its author is supposedly one of the
reasons Neil Armstrong chose to attend Purdue.

In 1948, Zucrow helped to design and build Purdue’s first ever

“Rocket Lab,” located by Purdue Airport. His groundbreaking
research in high-pressure combustion and film cooling
contributed to the design of the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main
Engines — which never once failed a mission, and are still
being used to this day for the Artemis program.

Fifty years after its founding, Purdue renamed the

“Rocket Lab” to honor its
founder: the Maurice J. Zucrow
Laboratories. The 24-acre
complex is the largest academic
propulsion lab in the world.

Above: “Doc” Zucrow and his Aerojet team with a solid-propellant JATO (jet-assisted take-off) motor.
Below: an early 1960s high-pressure bi-propellant test at Purdue using N2O4 and Aerozine 50,
with a ceramic-coated combustion chamber operating at 4,800 psia.

Maurice J. Zucrow is the

subject of a new book
from Purdue University
Press called The Rocket
Lab, which covers both
“Doc” Zucrow’s life and
the lab’s influence on
aerospace history. You
can buy the book at
Amazon, or directly from
press.purdue.edu
 From the Director
This... is a parking lot. It may not seem like
much, but this actually represents a quantum
leap forward for Zucrow Labs. Let me explain.
When I first became director of Zucrow Labs,
you had to drive under a one-lane railroad
bridge and turn onto an unmarked dirt road to
get here. Starting in 2015, Zucrow became
a permanent construction site. The first
thing we did was pave the road, and replace
the railroad bridge so trucks could easily
get in! This began a building spree that has
continued right to the present day.
• In 2017 we opened the ZL8 propulsion
complex, with five state-of-the-art
test cells and a climate-controlled
2,000-square-foot laser lab.
• In 2021, as part of the new Discovery Park District, Saab opened a factory right next door manufacturing fighter jet airframes.
Rolls-Royce built an office building nearby, and also has a hybrid engine testing facility currently under construction.
• In 2023, we opened the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility (HARF), a first-of-its-kind $41 million research facility with
hypersonic wind tunnels, shock tubes, manufacturing labs, and secure entry for national defense research.
• In 2024, we plan to open ZL9: the ultimate high-pressure combustion laboratory, a $73-million crown jewel for propulsion
research at Purdue.
In short, the physical footprint of Zucrow Labs has been covered in dust ever since I arrived. Our heroic students, faculty, and staff
have had to deal with it: parking their cars in the mud; jumping over puddles to get to their labs; wheeling their test rigs over gravel
construction sites. And yet — in the midst of all this inconvenience, they still find a
way to conduct some of the most groundbreaking propulsion research on the
planet.
Which brings us back to this new parking lot. This humble stretch of asphalt means
that our researchers will no longer have to park in the mud and jump over puddles
to get to their labs. It’s not just a nicety, it’s a necessity — because ZL9 will bring
nearly 100 additional graduate students to the 190 who are already working hard
here every day.
So fasten your seat belts — because the world’s largest academic propulsion lab is
about to get even bigger and better!
Robert P. Lucht
Director, Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories

Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories • 500 Allison Road • West Lafayette, IN 47907-2014

Phone: (765) 494-1501 • purdue.edu/zucrow
 ZL9 takes shape
We’ve watched the $73 million High-
Speed Propulsion Lab, otherwise known
as ZL9, rise out of the ground this year,
and I’m thrilled to share the progress.
In addition to the massive test cells and
individual laser labs, a new high-pressure
heated air plant will reliably deliver
conditions for any experiment imaginable.
A new fabrication workshop enables
almost any test rig to be designed, built,
and operated all under one roof.
ZL9 also features all the intangibles that
will make it a welcoming environment
for the 100+ new researchers who will
work there. Windows, conference rooms, ZL9’s features will
kitchens, meeting areas, a lobby, and yes, revolutionize research,
even a parking lot with a paved walkway. as well as create a
better environment for
Opening later this year, ZL9 incorporates
researchers.
everything that makes Zucrow great, and
takes it to the next level.

The 2nd floor

adds 100
new desks,
meeting rooms,
kitchen, and
other welcome
features.

Each test cell hosts its own individual climate-controlled ZL9’s test cells are an astonishing 34 feet tall. The three
laser diagnostics facility. rectangular inlets will deliver high-pressure heated air.
 HARF ushers in hypersonic era
In June 2023, leaders from Purdue, federal
government, and industry celebrated the
opening of the Hypersonics and Applied
Research Facility (HARF), a $41 million,
65,000-square-foot building that is home to
two cutting-edge wind tunnels – the only
Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel in the world, and
the hypersonic pulse (HYPULSE) reflected
shock/expansion tunnel. It is also home to
the Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing
Technology Center (HAMTC), a single location
for industry partners to work on materials and
manufacturing innovations and provide access
to testing capabilities.
“The Hypersonic Applied Research Facility is an
investment in test and evaluation and research From left, Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research; Mark Lewis,
capabilities that this country desperately needs,” CEO of Purdue Applied Research Institute; Mung Chiang, Purdue University
said Mark Lewis, chief executive officer for president; and Scott Meyer, managing director, Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories,
Purdue Applied Research Institute. “Through celebrate the opening of the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility.
facilities such as HARF, we will help solve some (Purdue University photo/Charles Jischke)
of the most challenging and relevant problems in
the field of high-speed flight while also building the future workforce.”
The tunnels recreate different scenarios, such as spacecraft re-entry or missile flight through the atmosphere, as well as replicating
unique engine conditions for extremely high-speed propulsion. The Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel and the HYPULSE tunnel offer
controlled environments to research several facets of high-speed flight. The wind tunnel more closely simulates flight and provides
more accurate data than conventional hypersonic wind tunnels.
The HYPULSE tunnel uses a shock wave of high-temperature air to recreate specific hypersonic flight conditions. It allows flight
simulations at speeds ranging from Mach 5 to as high as Mach 40. Purdue is only the second U.S. university to offer HYPULSE test
capabilities.
At HAMTC, located in HARF, researchers can collaborate with industry partners
to develop materials and manufacturing innovations. HAMTC is the only
vertically integrated prototyping center in the nation that enables the design,
manufacturing, joining and testing of hypersonic components and subsystems in
one location, speeding time from concept to full-fledged product.
“Flying is part of our Boilermaker DNA, from autonomous drones all the way to
the moon, and in near space with hypersonics, too,” Purdue President Mung
Chiang said at the ribbon cutting. “This is a particularly transformational moment
with the opening of HARF, and we are reaffirming here today our unwavering
commitment to national security and defense, and to growing Purdue as the
The HYPULSE hypersonic pulse shock tunnel, epicenter of hypersonic research, testing and talent development for the United
donated by Northrop Grumman, is one of States.”
several features that makes HARF a unique
Read the full story...
place to test hypersonic vehicles.
 Zucrow leads the RDE revolution

Purdue researchers are leading in study and design of 3D-printed rotating detonation rocket engines, which could transform
spacecraft and hypersonic vehicles. (Purdue University photo/Ariana Martinez)

The next generation of propulsion is closer than ever. A revolutionary design, called a rotating detonation engine (RDE) has been
the elusive “holy grail” of propulsion for decades. The supersonic dance happening inside an RDE promises to generate the same or
more thrust as traditional rocket engine, but in a much smaller package. After years of slow but steady progress, RDE development
is now blazing — and Purdue’s early start, unique capabilities, and top-level expertise put Boilermakers at the forefront of this field.
Purdue researchers even contributed to NASA’s first full-scale test of a rotating detonation rocket engine in 2022.
Stephen Heister, the Raisbeck Engineering Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, draws a comparison between
a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) and NASA’s time-honored RL-10. Originally designed in the 1950s and used on countless
satellite and deep space exploration launches, versions of that rocket engine are still part of satellite launch systems today.
An RDRE that produces similar thrust to the RL-10 could be as much as 40 percent shorter in length. That factor alone could be
transformational for spacecraft design. “If we do everything right, an RDRE with just a few percent more thrust could double the
payload of the launch vehicle,” Heister says.
The level of development and testing happening now at Zucrow Labs is unrivaled in academia, Heister says. Other universities
running RDRE combustion experiments are burning gaseous fuel and oxygen, and with engines that use a solid metal center to
absorb its copious heat energy. Those can only run for about a second before the metal reaches thermal capacity and begins melting
away. While useful for research, it’s far from the demands of a real-world engine that must run for minutes at a time. In 2022, while
studying under Heister, then-student John Smallwood (PhD AAE ’23) built and tested Purdue’s first water-cooled RDRE. His design
endured 120 hot-fires, some with 30-second runs, and still
looked pristine when they cut it open afterward.
Encouraged by those results, AAE doctoral student
Ariana Martinez had to push farther. She looked to NASA’s
success with 3D-printing an exotic copper alloy, called
GRCop-42. She collaborated with NASA Marshall Space
Flight Center to print the combustor. Over the spring and
summer of 2023, she put it through 31 hot-fires for a total
duration of 200 seconds. “The water-cooled hardware
would survive if we could continue feeding propellant to
it,” Martinez says. “We could run it indefinitely.”
Ariana Martinez and Stephen Heister at a Zucrow test stand, in front
This story originally appeared in Aerogram.
of the RDE engine she designed. (Purdue University photo/Alan Cesar)
Read the full story and watch video here...
 Helping Dragonfly survive
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is rich with organic substances and may
contain clues to the chemical beginnings of life. NASA is planning to
send a first-of-its-kind rotorcraft lander called Dragonfly to explore
Titan’s unique surface.
But before it begins flying, Dragonfly’s entry capsule has to
make it through Titan’s dense atmosphere. That’s where Chris
Goldenstein comes in. His team are studying the chemistry that
unfolds at extreme temperatures behind shock waves in Titan’s
atmosphere. This directly influences the amount of radiative heating
impacting the vehicle’s heat shield, which must withstand incredible
temperatures to survive and allow for a successful landing of the
Dragonfly rotorcraft on the surface of Titan.
NASA’s Dragonfly hopes to become the first aircraft to
“Titan’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen (like Earth’s), with about conduct scientific research on another planet. But first it
1.5% to 2.5% methane by volume,” said Vishnu Radhakrishna, a Ph.D. has to survive atmospheric entry on Titan. (Photo courtesy
student in Goldenstein’s lab and lead author of a recently-published NASA / Johns Hopkins APL)
paper on detailed spectroscopy relevant to entry on Titan. “But it’s
about 4 times denser than Earth’s — and hundreds of times denser than Mars’ — which makes rotor-based flying easier.”
“The vehicle will enter Titan’s atmosphere at extremely high velocity, forming a shock layer with unique and highly non-equilibrium
chemistry,” Goldenstein said. “That will induce a significant amount of heat flux to the vehicle. It’s our job to try to understand that
chemistry and the interactions of the shock layer plasma, so that NASA can more accurately predict the radiative heat transfer and
design an appropriate heat shield for Dragonfly.”
Goldenstein’s team developed a diagnostic called ultrafast laser absorption spectroscopy to study the chemical processes occurring
behind shock waves. “This diagnostic has a unique ability to quantify the number of molecules in a huge number of energy levels
and on a very short timescale, less than one nanosecond,” Goldenstein said. “This results from using femtosecond laser pulses,
which inherently possess many wavelengths of light.”
“We’re very proud of our shock tube facility here,” Goldenstein said. “We can operate at burst pressures of over 200 atmospheres
to produce very strong shock waves. There
aren’t many shock tubes in academia that
can operate at such high pressures.”
As a result of their experiments, they
witnessed cyanide (a compound with one
carbon atom and one nitrogen atom) being
created in high-energy quantum states, and
surviving there longer than conventional
models predict. “This is something
that hadn’t been conclusively observed
previously,” Radhakrishna said. “These results
could help NASA develop improved radiative
heat transfer models for Dragonfly.”

Vishnu Radhakrishna and Chris Goldenstein use a shock tube to recreate the
extreme temperatures, pressures, and velocities of atmospheric entry on Titan. Read the full story and watch video here...
(Purdue University photo/Jared Pike)
 Computing award for turbines
A team led by Guillermo Paniagua was honored with the “Best High-
Power Computing Collaboration” award in HPCwire’s 2023 Readers’
and Editors’ Choice Awards. The team used Purdue’s Rosen Center for
Advanced Computing (RCAC) Bell supercomputer to run simulations for
its work developing novel engine components that will have implications
for decarbonized power generation.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from HPCwire, and it reflects
the hard work and dedication of the many people involved in this multi-
institution collaboration,” says Paniagua, a professor of mechanical
engineering, who moved to Purdue in 2014 primarily so he could
pursue research on advanced turbines for clean power and propulsion.
“This award shines a light on Purdue’s world-class experimental and
computational resources, including our advanced turbine facilities tailored for pioneering small core clean aviation propulsion.”
The team used Purdue’s computing clusters to perform numerous computational fluid dynamic simulations of the combustor;
optimize the design of the turbine, which involved running hundreds of direct evaluations of turbine geometries to maximize
efficiency and reduce pressure distortion; and design the turbine’s diffuser to ensure the correct temperature and pressure profile
upstream of the turbine.
Read the full story...

Supersonic water table

There’s no substitute for actually seeing supersonic flow
in person, and being able to quickly iterate your designs
as a result — without time-consuming wind tunnel tests
or computer simulations. Paniagua’s lab now has an
alternative: a water table which simulates supersonic
flow.
“We can now easily experiment with different
geometries for turbine blades,” said Paniagua, “We
create 2D representations of an airfoil, put them in
the water, instantly see the results, and then use that
analysis to refine the airfoil design.”
The facility consists of a 2-meter-square pane of glass,
set at a gentle slope. A reservoir of water at the top end
feeds a thin film of water over the entire face of the Bringing the water table to life was a group effort, led by (left to right)
glass, emptying into another reservoir at the bottom. A Dr. Lukas B. Inhestern, Dr. Guillermo Paniagua, and Kevin Boes. (Purdue
series of pumps and tanks keeps the flow continuously University photo/Jared Pike)
circulating. Placing airfoil shapes on the glass interrupts
the flow of the water, creating visual patterns that simulate what might be seen experimentally in a wind tunnel test, or simulated in
a computer model. They also designed a secondary gantry to sit at the top of the 2-meter glass field, with a pulley-driven arm that
moves horizontally from one side of the tank to the other. By lowering a pointer that barely breaks the surface of the water, the back-
and-forth motion creates the exact kind of shockwaves that they want to simulate.
Read the full story and watch video here...
 Liquid-fueled rockets for $600?
In spring 2023, Purdue students split
into two teams to see who could
design, build, and test the best
rocket engine for less than $1,500.
Carson Slabaugh, the Paula Feuer
Associate Professor of Aeronautics
and Astronautics, called for a
methane-oxygen engine capable
of a steady 300 lbf of thrust for two
seconds, and two hot fires.
“Cost overruns kill many programs
and always leads to delays. Cost has
significant effects on design decisions and, in many cases such as this, force engineers to get creative,” Slabaugh says.
The teams, made up of graduate and undergraduate students, set up and ran the tests themselves at Zucrow Labs.
Team SpaceY designed a single-element shear-coaxial injector and an innovative graphite nozzle to handle the heat, fabricating two
copies for $1196.43. Thrust was just shy of target, producing an average 294 lbf on the best test.
Team Frugal Fire designed a multi-element, impinging injector and used fuel film cooling on the nozzle. To reduce cost, the team
machined the injector plate themselves and used brass and carbon steel materials. Total cost: just $652.38. Their output, 307 lbf, was
impressive, but fuel film cooling wasn’t enough: The nozzle melted down during its first run, leaving no time for a second test.
Team SpaceY was declared the winner on spec, but Frugal Fire’s experience was also an opportunity for rocket forensics. It led to in-
depth discussions with Slabaugh on combustion instabilities — a lesson they wouldn’t have gotten with a successful test.
“It was a formative experience,” said Christina Huynh of the SpaceY team. “This class is why I came to Purdue.”
This story originally appeared in Aerogram.
Read the full story and watch video here...

Student teams Space Y (below) and Frugal Fire

(right) competed in a frugal rocket challenge, each
designing and building rockets for around $600.
 Zucrow alum leads NASA Glenn
Zucrow alum James “Jimmy” Kenyon (MSE ’98) has been
appointed Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in
Cleveland, Ohio, with a staff of more than 3,200 people and
an annual budget of approximately $900 million.
“In the ‘90s, I studied with Sandy Fleeter, who was world-
famous when it came to gas turbines,” said Kenyon. “He was
an interesting character, and it was fascinating to pick his
brain about unsteady aerodynamics. I think he supervised
26 graduate students at the time, and boy did he work us
hard. He used to drive out to Zucrow Labs late at night, just
to see whose office lights were on!”
Kenyon said he learned a lot of lessons at Zucrow: “Sandy
ended up being a great mentor. He taught me how to Jimmy Kenyon (MSE ‘98), Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center
prioritize working with multiple stakeholders – industry,
government, customers, co-workers. Those are lessons I still carry with me today here at NASA.”
Kenyon says that his engineering background plays a huge role in his current success. “Someone once told me that getting an
engineering degree is learning how to learn. That’s true whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate. Even if you get a Ph.D. like I
did, you’ll be the smartest expert on one narrow subject for a time – until someone else comes along and does more research! But
when you’re an engineer, you learn how to solve problems. And as you progress through your career, the problems become different
– it’s less about solving equations or conducting experiments, and more about leading a team and finding solutions together.”
Read the full story...

O’Hara makes her first spaceflight

Loral O’Hara (MSAAE ’09) launched on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan to the International Space Station in September 2023. It’s her
first spaceflight since joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017.
O’Hara was recruited to Zucrow Labs in 2007 by William Anderson, a professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
She had been a project manager at Rocketplane, integrating rockets into a suborbital launch vehicle, but wasn’t sure that was her
future. Coming to Purdue helped her find direction.
“The work that I got to do at Zucrow designing,
building and testing hardware was really the first
time I got to do that – to take a project from the initial
concept stage all the way through to test. All my
work before that had been kind of analytical or more
project management,” she says. “Purdue set the
stage for the rest of my career.”
Since arriving at ISS, O’Hara has been busy
conducting experiments, hosting media events, and
joining fellow astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli for the
fourth all-female spacewalk in history.
Loral O’Hara launched to the International Space Station in
Read the full story... September 2023. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Robiños)
 Awards and honors
Kevin Boes, Ph.D. student in Mechanical Kazuki Maeda has joined the School of
Engineering, was appointed to serve a two-year Aeronautics and Astronautics as an Assistant
term as student trustee for Purdue University‘s Professor. He previously collaborated with
Board of Trustees. Kevin works with Guillermo Purdue on laser-based ignition through his
Paniagua developing and testing turbines. large-scale turbulence simulation work at
Stanford. His research interests are in rocket
propulsion, hypersonics, and data assimilation.
Jay Gore, the Reilly University Chair Professor He has a PhD from CalTech.
of Mechanical Engineering, was chosen by
Purdue to receive the Arden L. Bement Jr. Monique McClain, Assistant Professor of
Award for highly significant and impactful Mechanical Engineering, has been named to
contributions to big data, artificial neural MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35
networks, machine learning and artificial list for her work on additive manufacturing of
intelligence in physics-based models of energy. energetic materials.

Daniel Guildenbecher has joined the School Scott Meyer, Managing Director of Maurice
of Mechanical Engineering as an Associate J. Zucrow Laboratories, has been elected as
Professor. His research interests include Associate Fellow of the American Institute of
multiphase flows; energetic materials detection Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), cited for
& combustion; sprays and atomization; and “outstanding contributions to the development
high-speed fluid mechanics. Both his B.S. and of sophisticated, state-of-the-art rocket and gas
Ph.D. are from Purdue University, where he was turbine test facilities and for rigorous training
advised by Paul Sojka. He has worked at Sandia of numerous students in propulsion testing.”
National Laboratories since 2011.

Nicole Key, Professor of Mechanical Carson Slabaugh has been named the Paula
Engineering, has been chosen for the ASME Feuer Associate Professor of Aeronautics and
Fellow Review Committee. Astronautics.

Anduril Industries acquires Adranos

Purdue-originated startup Adranos Inc. has been acquired
by major defense products company Anduril Industries. In
2015, then-Ph.D. student Brandon Terry worked with Steve Son at
Zucrow Labs to develop a proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy solid
rocket fuel called ALITEC, which significantly increases range,
payload performance, and speed of defense and space systems.
Terry later co-founded Adranos to market his invention.
Based in Costa Mesa, California, Anduril will bring critical
resources toward developing the Adranos Solid Rocket Complex
production facility in Mississippi into a modern manufacturing
facility, which will increase output of both standard and ALITEC Adranos opens a manufacturing facility in Mississippi in 2022.
solid rocket motors to thousands per year at much faster lead
times than currently available.
Read the full story...
 Zucrow by the numbers
Total expenditures at Zucrow for calendar year 2023: $21.1 million
Thermal Sciences: $1.6M (8%)
Energetic Materials: $4.6M (22%)

Rocket Propulsion: $3.5M (16%)

Air Breathing Propulsion: $6.4M (30%)

Turbomachinery: $5.0M (24%) *includes hypersonics

Growth in sponsored projects at Zucrow Labs

$21.1M
Awards ($M)

$6.5M

Growth in number of graduate students working at Zucrow Labs

*Indicates graduate students only. Many undergraduates,
post-docs, and visiting scholars also work at Zucrow 190

79
 HIGH SPEED PROPULSION LAB (ZL9) DEDICATION
AND
ZUCROW LABORATORIES 75TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

SAVE THE DATE!

Friday, October 4, 2024

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics

and
Mechanical Engineering
 This technical report from 1952 is one of hundreds of research
papers originating from Purdue that contributed to furthering
aerospace and national defense in the 20th century. It comes from
a new book about Maurice J. Zucrow called “The Rocket Lab.”

Zucrow Labs