About

Francesco Panerai is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on areas within aerospace engineering, contributing to the department's diverse research portfolio. Specific details about his background, research focus, or key contributions are not provided in the page text.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Physics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Mathematics
• Engineering
• Algorithm
• Aerospace engineering
• Mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Composite material
• Optics
• Process engineering
• Geometry
• Chemistry
• Nuclear physics
• Computational science
• Waste management
• Computational physics
• Environmental science
• Mechanical engineering
• Biological system

Selected publications

• BLAST: Boundary Layer Analysis & Simulation Toolbox for Chemically Reacting Flows

  2026-01-08

  articleSenior author

  Boundary layer equations are an effective model for the viscous flow in the vicinity of a body and enable computationally efficient evaluation of aerothermal loads in chemically reacting gases. This paper presents a numerical method for solving the boundary layer equations for a compressible, reacting flow in local chemical nonequilibrium with a catalytic and ablating surface, under the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. We review the extensive literature on this subject and implement the formulation in a new code, the Boundary Layer Analysis & Simulation Toolbox, or BLAST, leveraging a state-of-the-art library for thermodynamics, transport, and chemistry modeling, along with a new gas–surface interaction library, NEST. We first present the problem, the governing equations, and the underlying assumptions, along with the coordinate transformation adopted to solve them. The gas–surface interaction models implemented in NEST are also outlined. We then discuss the numerical method used to discretize the equations, based on Lagrangian polynomials for the streamwise coordinate and a Hermitian polynomial for the transverse direction. The method is verified against canonical, self-similar solutions, and the gas-surface interaction library is verified against models available in the literature. Preliminary results are presented for experimental conditions compatible with the Plasmatron X wind tunnel at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.

  PublisherDOI

• On Board Optical Emission Spectra Collection in Plasmatron X Facility for Hycube Missions

  2026-01-08

  articleSenior author

  Time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements were performed at the Plasmatron X facility under 110-455 W/cm$^2$ heat flux conditions through a sapphire window embedded in TPS material planned for use on a hypersonic flight vehicle known as HyCUBE. These measurements were conducted in synthetic air at 70 mbar and coupled with two-color pyrometer surface temperature measurements, as well as thermocouple-based internal temperature measurements. For samples fabricated of AETB with RCG-coating, our results demonstrate (1) negligible contamination of the observation window by potential ablation products; (2) survivability of the test articles for the anticipated HyCUBE descent trajectories, (3) capability of simultaneous inference of the rotational and vibrational temperatures at the millisecond timescale using a miniature low-resolution spectrometer. Gas (translational) temperatures and vibrational temperatures in the ranges of 8,000 - 11,000 K and 7,400 - 9,000 K were obtained, respectively. In general, we present the benefits of the HyCUBE concept for in-situ spectroscopic diagnostics in hypersonic flight vehicles.

  PublisherDOI

• Synchrotron μCT of biomass pyrolysis by Boigné et al.

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  other

  Understanding the coupling between transport, chemical kinetics, and structural response within solid fuel combustion requires in situ measurements at high spatial resolution. To examine the dynamics of biomass pyrolysis, we optimize synchrotron X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT), and conduct 3D particle-resolved simulations. A micro-focused heating cell with controlled heating and flow rate is employed, achieving temperatures of up to 1240 K and 3D imaging at 3.24 μm spatial and sub-minute temporal resolutions. The pyrolysis of three biomass materials at sample heating rates of 10–14 K/min are examined. The μCT measurements capture pore deformation, cracking, anisotropic shrinkage, and provide simultaneous thermogravimetric and thermovolumetric analyses to examine specific secondary pyrolysis pathways. Complementary 3D simulations considering detailed kinetics and structural response reproduce the key trends observed, and identify deficiencies in capturing simultaneous mass and volume losses during pyrolysis.

• Carbon Fiber Oxidation in 4D (Adv. Mater. 42/2025)

  Advanced Materials · 2025-10-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Carbon Fiber Oxidation During atmospheric entry, spacecraft endure extreme heat that drives rapid oxidation of the carbon fiber heat shield. In their Research Article (DOI: 10.1002/adma.202502007), Benjamin M. Ringel, Francesco Panerai, and co-workers capture the evolving microstructure of porous carbon material under high-temperature oxidizing conditions, revealing the effects of diffusion-reaction competition on material response and effective properties, and informing the design of next-generation thermal protection systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bayesian Model Selection for Graphite Oxidation by Molecular Oxygen

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• PlasFlowSolver: An Aerothermodynamic Data Reduction Model for Inductively Coupled Plasma Wind Tunnel Facilities

  2025-01-03 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Aerothermodynamic data reduction models are useful tools for analyzing experiments in high-enthalpy plasma wind tunnels, which are essential for evaluating materials used in hypersonic and reentry applications. This study introduces PlasFlowSolver, a data reduction model developed to estimate flow properties such as temperature, enthalpy, and velocity from experimental data, including pressure, stagnation pressure, and stagnation-point cold-wall heat flux. The model is based on boundary layer theory and assumes thermochemical equilibrium, providing an engineering framework for efficient analysis. The model assumptions and the computation of the stagnation-point cold-wall heat flux are thoroughly discussed. Sensitivity analyses of input parameters, such as wall temperature and jet radius, explore the applicability of the model. Results are presented, including the generation of a high-altitude partial operational map for the Plasmatron X wind tunnel at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Limitations are discussed, and verification against an existing model is provided.

  PublisherDOI

• Modeling the effect of pitting on the tensile behavior of amorphous carbon and carbon fiber

  Carbon Trends · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen access

  FiberForm, the substrate of the Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), contains various fundamental forms of carbon, including vitreous or highly ordered graphitic regions in the carbon fiber core and amorphous or turbostratic carbon in the binder material, which provides stiffness to the material. In this study, we use the AIREBO potential to investigate the effect of pitting on the elastic properties of carbon fiber (CF) and amorphous carbon (AC). The generation, structural characterization, and loading of pristine AC and CF are compared with their pitted counterparts over a range of densities (1.27 g/cm 3 to 2.93 g/cm 3 ) and porosities. Results show a reduction of up to 18.7% in elastic modulus for AC and a reduction of 13.7% in modulus for CF. We also observe AC to have weaker tensile behavior for both oxidized and pristine states, supporting the hypothesis that FiberForm is likely to fail at the binder. The present work advances fundamental understanding of the coupling between oxidation and mechanical behavior of carbon-based TPS materials and serves as a basis for larger-scale simulations.

  PublisherDOI

• In-Depth Ablation of Charring Ablators for Titan and Earth Atmospheric Entries

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Pyromechanics: A solid mechanics approach to deformation during pyrolysis

  Fuel · 2025-02-14 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  During pyrolysis, organic materials undergo morphological changes that are important to predict, particularly in the field of thermochemical conversion. This work proposes an approach to model deformations during pyrolysis combining elastic, thermal expansion, and pyrolysis contributions. A three-dimensional anisotropic pyromechanics model is derived for porous media by volume averaging. It includes pyrolysis kinetics, mass, momentum and energy conservation for both solid and gas phases. A key advantage of the pyromechanics model lies in its physical framework, which effectively captures the effect of internal stresses on the overall deformation. Implemented as open-source within the Porous material Analysis Toolbox based on the OpenFOAM framework (PATO) using an incremental approach, the model is specifically applied to wood in this study. Two experimental validations are conducted using pyrolyzing cylindrical wood particles to verify the model’s predictions concerning temperature profile evolution and shrinkage effects. Importantly, the model’s capability to estimate stress distribution holds promise for further investigations into crack distribution and propagation.

  PublisherDOI

• Permeability Modeling of the Mars 2020 Parachute Broadcloth Material

  AIAA Journal · 2025-08-06

  article

  The broadcloth material used in parachute manufacturing is generally a thin, woven, permeable textile. The small length scales of fibers, pores, and gaps in fabric are challenging to spatially resolve in a full-scale parachute simulation. In this work, simulations are performed using a 3D reconstruction of the broadcloth material used in the Mars 2020 mission, and simulation results using the detailed reconstructed geometry are compared to a simplified model proposed in a previous work. Furthermore, results from simulations under Earth ambient lab conditions are compared to experimental permeability test data to validate the choice of parameters for this reduced-order model. Simulations under ASPIRE SR03 flight-relevant conditions are also performed to study permeability in a rarefied flow regime. It is observed that flow through the material is similar to a developing pipe flow, and under low-density conditions, significant slip velocity is present inside pores. For all conditions investigated, the pressure drag is the primary contributor to the total drag force. Drag and mass flow rate discrepancies are observed between models, motivating future work to investigate the sensitivity of system-level parachute FSI simulations to the assumed permeability model and associated parameters.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Nagi N. Mansour

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  75 shared

• Joseph C. Ferguson

  Stanford University

  38 shared

• Alexandre Martin

  University of Kentucky

  30 shared

• Olivier Chazot

  Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics

  28 shared

• Arnaud Borner

  27 shared

• Jean Lachaud

  26 shared

• Jacques Droulez

  20 shared

• Kelly A. Stephani

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  20 shared

Labs

• Combustion, Flow, and Plasma Interaction LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2000

• M.S., Aerospace Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1996

• B.S., Aerospace Engineering

  University of Rome 'La Sapienza'

  1993

Awards & honors

• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, UIUC…
• Everitt Award for Teaching Excellence (2022)
• NASA Software of the Year Award (2022)
• AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2019)
• AMA Group Achievement Award - The Asteroid Threat Assessment…