Ashok Gopalarathnam
Professor

- 919-515-5669
- agopalar@ncsu.edu
- Engineering Building III (EB3) 3256
- Visit My Website
Dr. Gopalarathnam directs the NCSU Applied Aerodynamics Group. Dr. Gopalarathnam (referred to by his students as Dr. G) is committed to the development of innovative and useful ideas, concepts, and methodologies for the design of aircraft, other types of vehicles, and for alternative-energy systems. He is interested in applied aerodynamics, flight mechanics, aircraft design, adaptive aircraft, and design methodologies.
At the graduate level, Dr. G teaches Airfoil Theory (MAE 551) and Wing Theory (MAE 561). In these courses, the students look beyond theoretical methods in aerodynamics and address practical requirements in the design of airfoils and wings. At the undergraduate level, Dr. G teaches Aerodynamics of V/STOL vehicles (MAE 452) and Flight Vehicle Stability and Control (MAE 462). In MAE 462, his students do team projects in which they design/build/fly micro-gliders.
The graduate students who work with Dr. G are motivated and have an interest in flight and aerodynamics. During their studies, they are exposed to a mixture of theoretical, experimental, and computational methods applied to the design of a wide range of aero-hydrodynamic systems. His students work on sail boats, race cars, aircraft, and wind turbines, to name a few.
Outside of work, Dr. G spends time with his family and enjoys recreational flying when time permits.
Education
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Research Description
Dr. Gopalarathnam is presently 1) developing adaptive aerodynamics for morphing aircraft, 2) developing aerodynamic prediction techniques for flight dynamics simulations, and 3) studying unsteady and post-stall aerodynamics of aircraft, helicopters, micro-aerial vehicles, and flight in nature. In MAE, Dr. G works with Dr. Edwards, Dr. Wu, and Dr. Peters.
Publications
- Flow criticality governs leading-edge-vortex initiation on finite wings in unsteady flow
- Hirato, Y., Shen, M., Gopalarathnam, A., & Edwards, J. R. (2021), JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS, 910. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2020.896
- Aeroelastic inverse: Estimation of aerodynamic loads during large amplitude limit cycle oscillations
- Kirschmeier, B., Pash, G., Gianikos, Z., Medina, A., Gopalarathnam, A., & Bryant, M. (2020), JOURNAL OF FLUIDS AND STRUCTURES, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2020.103131
- Amplitude Annihilation in Wake-Influenced Aeroelastic Limit-Cycle Oscillations
- Kirschmeier, B. A., Gianikos, Z., Gopalarathnam, A., & Bryant, M. (2020), AIAA JOURNAL, 58(9), 4117–4127. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J058942
- Artificial Lumbered Flight for Autonomous Soaring
- Powers, T. C., Silverberg, L. M., & Gopalarathnam, A. (2020), JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS, 43(3), 553–566. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G004397
- Limit cycle characterization of an aeroelastic wing in a bluff body wake
- Gianikos, Z. N., Kirschmeier, B. A., Gopalarathnam, A., & Bryant, M. (2020), JOURNAL OF FLUIDS AND STRUCTURES, 95(0). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2020.102986
- Variation of leading-edge suction during stall for unsteady aerofoil motions
- Narsipur, S., Hosangadi, P., Gopalarathnam, A., & Edwards, J. R. (2020), JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS, 900. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2020.467
- Aerodynamic Sails for Passive Guidance of High-Altitude Balloons: Static-Stability and Equilibrium Performance
- Waghela, R., Yoder, C. D., Gopalarathnam, A., & Mazzoleni, A. P. (2019), JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT, 56(5), 1849–1857. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.C035353
- Low-Order Model for Prediction of Trailing-Edge Separation in Unsteady Flow
- Narsipur, S., Gopalarathnam, A., & Edwards, J. R. (2019), AIAA JOURNAL, 57(1), 191–207. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J057132
- Model Reduction in Discrete-Vortex Methods for Unsteady Airfoil Flows
- SureshBabu, A. V., Ramesh, K., & Gopalarathnam, A. (2019, April), AIAA JOURNAL, Vol. 57, pp. 1409–1422. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J057458
- Vortex-Sheet Representation of Leading-Edge Vortex Shedding from Finite Wings
- Hirato, Y., Shen, M., Gopalarathnam, A., & Edwards, J. R. (2019), JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT, 56(4), 1626–1640. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.C035124
Grants
- Control of Aeroelastic Structures via Prescribed Aerodynamic Disturbances
- National Science Foundation (NSF)(7/01/20 - 6/30/23)
- Development of a Fast Low-Order Aerodynamic Prediction Method for Aircraft Configurations in Post-Stall Flight
- National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)(1/01/18 - 8/15/18)
- Further Aerodynamic Modeling of Aerial Refueling Tanker and Receiver Interactions
- US Navy(10/16/17 - 3/15/21)
- Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Behavior of Wings in the Presence of Upstream Vortical and Viscous Disturbances
- US Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)(7/01/17 - 6/30/21)
- Aerodynamic Modeling of Aerial Refueling Tanker and Receiver Interactions
- US Navy(6/02/16 - 8/28/17)
- CFD and Experimental Studies to Aid Development of Low-Order Aerodynamic Prediction Methods for Post-Stall Flight
- National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)(1/01/16 - 9/15/17)
- Angelfish: Initial Planning and Project Management
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)(6/19/14 - 1/31/16)
- Evaluation of Flexible Micropost Arrays for Shear Stress Measurement
- National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)(7/10/14 - 7/09/16)
- Aerodynamic Sensing using Miniature Transducers
- General Electric Co.(3/01/13 - 12/31/13)
- Harnessing Fluid-Structure Interaction in Wind Power and Sustainable Air Transport
- University Global Partnership Network (UGPN)(3/01/13 - 2/28/14)