Mr Mars Burke
PhD Student

Research area(s)

Year-long Research Areas:

• Numerical Investigation of an Adjustable in-flight Morphing Winglet using Athena Vortex Lattice, Tested on Boeing 737-800
• Hexacopter Propeller's; CFD Design, Aerodynamic Analysis, Propulsion, Stability, Height and Range Optimisations 

Research Interests

• Morphing Wing
• Morphing Winglet
• Morphing Skin and Actuation Systems
• Aerodynamics
• Rotational Aerodynamics
• Flight Physics

Research project(s) and grant(s)

• EASA PPL private scholarship covering 1/3 of flight training towards the pilot licence.
• NASA'a Advanced Air Vehicle Program, Commercial Supersonic Technology Projecr (NASA AVVP - CST) (X-59's one-off Quiet Supersonic Technology "QueSST" Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator LBFD) found @ https://cutt.ly/EGWxLi
• Cosmology-quiz Golden-Coin Award, [2008]
• Recipient of C.F.S.N’s Volunteering Medal, Cleveland Fire Support Network, [2013]
• Wondrous Universe, published for Everyone Magazine, [2014], [pages 12-21]:https://cutt.ly/5GOFTno
• Oct - Dec 2017 Focke Wulf 190A Build Project, Responsibility: Aerodynamics Analyst, [Individual + Group] The aim was to build, test and fly a Focke Wulf 190 model within a set deadline. Some parts of the plane were needed to be made from scratch by cutting out pieces using tools and by following “Technical Drawings” where we could build a 3D model using 2D drawings. Mars was overseeing the overall progression of the project by leading the group and giving suggestions to his colleagues’ study-area, i.e. Weight and Balance, Propulsion, Structure and Materials used for the Aircraft to ensure the project was going to be completed on time and to specification. Mars took responsibility to aerodynamically analyse the model and predict if any control surfaces could potentially fail under certain stresses. The related stress analysis and calculations were provided in a “ build and report summary ” where he needed to satisfy the Aerospace team of lecturers and module leaders with ample evidence of my work during a presentation at week 12 of the first term. FW 190A model dimensions [Wingspan : 1575 mm, Length: 1227 mm, AUW: 3.7 kg]
• Oct 2017 Boundary Layer Flow measurement & Flow over an Airfoil [Individual Project]During these experiments, the flow interaction with an Airfoil and over 2 flat plates were studied [smooth & rough]. A fine Pitot tube was traversed through the boundary layer. A micrometre was used to read the displacement of the Pitot tube. The first “significant pressure-drop reading” was an indication that the pitot tube had just entered the boundary layer. This was repeated at different distances along the flat plate. The the data was recorded to find values for the boundary layer thickness, momentum thickness, the shape factor, pressure distributions over the Airfoil and finally to meet the objectives of these experiments which was to find the lifting capabilities of the Airfoil at different velocities and at different Angles of Attack.
• Nov 2018 [U.A.S] Conceptual Design and Build Project, Responsibility: Aerodynamicist [Group + Individual]A collaborative effort within a team of level [5] and level [3] Aerospace, Aviation, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering students whose aim was to undertake the full design and build cycle of a U.A.S with specific mission objectives. This enabled the project to compete with national and international undergraduate teams for “I.Mech.E U.A.S challenge”. Mars was responsible to validate the computational results that the aerodynamics team has provided and had also risen to the challenge of simulating and validating the entire flight profile using Vortex Lattice Method [VLM], on a completely individual effort.
• Shortlisted by RCVDA and MVDA for “Young Volunteer of the Year” award, [2014]