About

Dr. Camli Badrya is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC Davis. She earned her B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the Technion in Israel, and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. During her graduate studies, her research focused on principles of unsteady flow, bio-inspired flight, and large gust response at low Reynolds numbers. She also gained extensive experience in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), helicopter aerodynamics, and aircraft design. Dr. Badrya was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2011 to pursue her graduate studies at UMD and received the Amelia Earhart Fellowship Award in 2015. Prior to joining UC Davis, she worked at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics at Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, where she led a research group investigating flow physics of laminar wings and fuselage, passive and active laminar flow control, low-drag wing design, and wind tunnel experiments related to boundary layer flow physics. She leads the Davis Applied Aerodynamic Lab (DAAL), which aims to advance multidisciplinary innovations in aviation and space systems to improve efficiency, ecological sustainability, and energy use.

Research topics

• Mechanics
• Physics
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Optics
• Geometry
• Classical mechanics
• Materials science
• Thermodynamics
• Structural engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Aerospace engineering
• Simulation

Selected publications

• Multi-Objective Aerodynamic Optimization of Proprotors in the Moderate Reynolds Number Regime

  2026-01-08

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Wind Tunnel Testing of a Subsonic Airfoil Employing Hybrid Laminar Flow Control

  AIAA Journal · 2026-05-18

  articleSenior author

  A hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) airfoil with boundary-layer suction (BLS) applied between 50 and 80% of the chord on the upper surface is tested in a wind tunnel, revealing the potential of HLFC in the adverse pressure gradient region. The HLFC airfoil is designed for [Formula: see text] million ([Formula: see text]) through a numerical optimization framework for two-dimensional HLFC profiles. The wind-tunnel model is constructed from composite materials with a metallic insert enabling BLS. The suction panel consists of a thin, porous stainless-steel sheet with laser-drilled holes of [Formula: see text] in diameter and a porosity of 0.9%. This porous surface is bonded to a multichamber suction system that allows independent control of the suction flow rate at four chordwise locations. Pressure measurements are used to compute [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], while infrared thermography tracks the transition location. Flow meters monitor the suction flow rate. Experimental results demonstrate that BLS extends the laminar region by displacing the laminar separation bubble toward the trailing edge, thereby reducing drag. The application of laminar-flow suction reduces aerodynamic drag by 33% compared with the baseline configuration and by 20% when accounting for the energy cost of suction actuation.

  PublisherDOI

• Aeroelastic Flutter Wing Sizing for a General Aviation Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft

  2026-01-08

  articleSenior author

  This study presents a unified workflow for structural sizing and flutter analysis of lifting surfaces, integrating finite element modeling, structural strength and stability sizing, and aeroelastic assessment. The approach couples solutions from the NASTRAN finite element solver, including static loads analysis, modal analysis, and flutter prediction, with the iterative sizing capabilities of HyperX through its optimization module, HyperFEA. The workflow incorporates a methodology for reconciling aerodynamic loading predicted by NASTRAN’s Doublet Lattice Method (DLM) with higher-fidelity CFD results by mapping CFD pressure data onto the NASTRAN aerodynamic panel discretization. The methodology is applied to a general aviation–class blended wing body (BWB) aircraft, the FS-8 configuration to evaluate the effectiveness of the process across multiple internal wing layouts. A primary wing configuration is sized to satisfy all static strength and structural stability requirements. Subsequent flutter analyses identified aeroelastic instabilities, which were mitigated through targeted stiffness constraints. The resulting stiffness modifications successfully eliminated flutter within the flight envelope while maintaining total structural mass below the maximum takeoff weight limit, with modest adjustments to passenger count and fuel capacity. These results demonstrate that the integrated workflow reliably converges to a strength and flutter compliant design with minimal manual intervention. By combining automated structural sizing with an approach for improving aerodynamic load fidelity through CFD-informed corrections, the methodology enables rapid evaluation of stiffness and weight trade-offs applicable to both metallic and composite wing designs. This framework provides a scalable foundation for future application to larger or more complex aircraft configurations.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimental investigations on boundary layer transition over a flat plate with suction and comparison with linear stability theory

  Experiments in Fluids · 2025-07-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Laminar boundary layer suction has significant potential for reducing aircraft drag, thereby diminishing its environmental impact. This study presents wind tunnel experiments conducted on a flat plate to examine the effectiveness of laminar boundary layer suction in delaying the transition and compares the measured data with the $$e^n$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>e</mml:mi> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> </mml:msup> </mml:math> method based on linear stability theory (LST). The experiments, performed over a range of freestream velocities from 15 to 50 m/s, comprised infrared thermography, pressure measurements, and hot-wire anemometry. The boundary layer suction is implemented through interchangeable suction boxes mounted on the flat plate, with two types of suction surfaces tested, featuring hole diameters of 120 and $$60\,\upmu \hbox {m}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>60</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> <mml:mtext>m</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> and a constant porosity of 0.9%. The study examines the influence of various parameters on transition, as the intensity of the suction coefficient, particularly at elevated values, as well as the impact of the micro-holes diameter, the chordwise distribution of the suction velocity and the freestream Reynolds number. A discrepancy between the experimentally measured transition location and the predictions from LST is observed. To identify the origin of this deviation, boundary layer measurements are taken on the porous surface while varying both the suction coefficient and its spatial distribution. A particular flow disturbance near the porous surface, amplified by the suction intensity, is identified, leading to increased velocity fluctuations in the near-wall measurement points. The difference depends on both the suction coefficient and the suction velocity distribution. For this reason, a configuration is investigated in which only the first and last of the four suction chambers are used to aspirate the boundary layer. It is observed that the flow disturbances are significantly reduced, and the boundary layer predictions align more closely with the experimental data.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Design Exploration of Airfoils for Rotorcraft Applications under Dynamic Conditions

  2025-05-20 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  This paper explores novel airfoils for rotorcraft applications using a gradient-free, multi-objective genetic algorithm with 2D URANS simulations. The study considers dynamic kinematics at a Reynolds number of 5×105 and a mean Mach number of 0.35. Two optimization scenarios are analyzed: 1) pre-stall kinematics (0° ≤α ≤10°) and 2) dynamic stall kinematics (0° ≤ α ≤ 20°). The paper compares two objective functions: f1, based on the cycle averaged lift, and ˜ f1, which modifies f1 by penalizing hysteresis in the lift coefficient. The effects of uniform vs. fluctuating freestream velocity and reduced frequency on optimal airfoils are also discussed. The proposed optimization approach has resulted in novel airfoil shapes that are characterized by a drooped nose, with a convex surface on the aft upper surface similar to a reflex camber in pre-stall kinematics and less unsteadiness in the air loads for the optimized airfoils under the dynamic stall kinematics.

  PublisherDOI

• Design Exploration of Airfoils for Rotorcraft Applications under Dynamic Conditions

  2025-05-20

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This paper explores novel airfoils for rotorcraft applications using a gradient-free, multi-objective genetic algorithm with 2D URANS simulations. The study considers dynamic kinematics at a Reynolds number of 5×105 and a mean Mach number of 0.35. Two optimization scenarios are analyzed: 1) pre-stall kinematics (0° ≤α ≤10°) and 2) dynamic stall kinematics (0° ≤ α ≤ 20°). The paper compares two objective functions: f1, based on the cycle averaged lift, and ˜ f1, which modifies f1 by penalizing hysteresis in the lift coefficient. The effects of uniform vs. fluctuating freestream velocity and reduced frequency on optimal airfoils are also discussed. The proposed optimization approach has resulted in novel airfoil shapes that are characterized by a drooped nose, with a convex surface on the aft upper surface similar to a reflex camber in pre-stall kinematics and less unsteadiness in the air loads for the optimized airfoils under the dynamic stall kinematics.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction: Design Exploration of Compressible Airfoils at Static and Dynamic Conditions

  2025-07-29

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• High Dimensional Bayesian Optimization for Aerodynamic Design of Airfoils and Wings with Hybrid Laminar Flow Control

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Fly motion vision is tuned to maximize signal energy transfer between mechanical input and sensor output

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-03-31 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Insects achieve agile flight using a sensor-rich control architecture whose embodiment eliminates the need for complex computation. For example, their visual systems are tuned to detect the optic flow associated with specific self-motions, but what functional principle does this tuning embed and how does it facilitate motor control? Here we test the hypothesis that evolution co-tunes physics and physiology by aligning an insect’s sensors to its dynamically-significant modes of self-motion. Specifically, we show that the tuning of the blowfly motion vision system maximizes the flow of signal energy from gust disturbances and control inputs to sensor outputs, jointly optimizing observability and controllability. This evolutionary principle differs from the conventional engineering-design paradigm of optimizing state estimation, with implications for novel robotic systems combining high performance with low power-consumption.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Design Exploration of Airfoils at Moderate Reynolds Number Using Multi-Fidelity Optimization

  2024-07-27 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study aims to develop an efficient and robust method to design novel airfoils for unsteady flow and kinematics. A multi-fidelity method is used for computational efficiency by leveraging the low cost, steady flow solver XFOIL and the high fidelity URANS solver TURNS2D, which is validated against experimental data for the Eppler 387. Two design optimization studies are considered, one for fixed-wing applications, and one for rotary-wings. The multi-objective problem to minimize drag at multiple lift conditions is solved using NSGA-II coupled to the flow solver. Genetic optimization with XFOIL provided a good initial population for TURNS2D, which is subsequently used for several generations to account for the unsteadiness of the flow and refine airfoil designs. Pareto optimal airfoils designed with XFOIL exhibited well known design strategies to extend the laminar flow region to minimize drag and to add a reflex camber to reduce pitching moment. Airfoils further refined with TURNS2D employed the same design strategies as those produced by XFOIL, but had accounted for flow unsteadiness. Despite not directly optimizing to minimize unsteadiness, the best airfoils suited for each flight condition were those that have minimal fluctuations in the flow. It was found that even for static conditions, unsteadiness in the boundary layer played a significant role in airfoil performance, although even higher fidelity studies are needed to fully understand the underlying physics.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• James D. Baeder

  University of Maryland, Baltimore

  13 shared

• Rolf Radespiel

  Technische Universität Braunschweig

  12 shared

• Anand Sudhi

  Technische Universität Braunschweig

  10 shared

• Arne Seitz

  Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)

  8 shared

• Peter Scholz

  Technische Universität Braunschweig

  6 shared

• Matthias Horn

  Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)

  5 shared

• Bharath Govindarajan

  Indian Institute of Technology Madras

  5 shared

• Alexander Barklage

  Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)

  5 shared

Awards & honors

• Amelia Earhart Fellowship Award (2015)
• Fulbright scholarship (2011)