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Institution · Wright-Patterson AFB · United States

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

In research, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base stands highest in Physical Sciences (#3,339 of 12,888 worldwide), Engineering (#2,277 of 6,636 worldwide) and Medicine (#6,658 of 10,443 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Computational Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics — Computational Mechanics is 8.4× its share of world research.

wpafb.af.milROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,121
of 28,054 · #680 all time
Rank in United States
#708
of 4,192
Research works
9.8k
▼ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
281k
28.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
16.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
14%
world 28%

What is Wright-Patterson Air Force Base known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #3,339 of 12,888 17.1%434 #471
EngineeringField #2,277 of 6,636 19.2%231 #287
MedicineField #6,658 of 10,443 9.5%67 #4666
Health SciencesDomain #7,744 of 11,982 9.7%80 #4700
Materials ScienceField #1,843 of 2,468 15.1%80 #267

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Wright-Patterson Air Force Base sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#471 #3,339
  2. Engineering#287 #2,277
  3. Medicine#4,666 #6,658
  4. Health Sciences#4,700 #7,744
  5. Materials Science#267 #1,843
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Wright-Patterson Air Force Base specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Computational Mechanics takes 8.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Computational MechanicsSubfield · 27.9 works8.4×
  2. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 41.4 works6.2×
  3. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 22.5 works5.5×
  4. Materials ChemistrySubfield · 46.4 works4.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.47× its world share, 14 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.16× its world share, 11 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.88× its world share, 4 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.95× its world share, 9 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.05× its world share, 47 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.84× its world share, 8 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.46× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.67× its world share, 231 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.40× its world share, 11 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 3.96× its world share, 80 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.67× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.02× its world share, 39 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.33× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.70× its world share, 11 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.60× its world share, 67 worksMedicineNursing: 0.29× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.27× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.20× its world share, 4 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.34× its world share, 7 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.14× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.84× its world share, 15 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.06× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Materials Science, 4.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?

Ranked on the composite score, J.S. Zabinski, Andrey A. Voevodin and Michael F. Durstock lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

  1. 1 J.S. Zabinski United States · #23,163 worldwide 689 citations · 46 works
  2. 2 Andrey A. Voevodin United States · #39,974 worldwide 785 citations · 85 works
  3. 3 Michael F. Durstock United States · #62,435 worldwide 1.3k citations · 26 works
  4. 4 James M. Whitney United States · #63,562 worldwide 317 citations · 31 works
  5. 5 J. S. Shang United States · #98,597 worldwide 176 citations · 32 works
  6. 6 P. Bletzinger United States · #126,667 worldwide 170 citations · 33 works
  7. 7 Timothy J. White United States · #157,277 worldwide 361 citations · 52 works
  8. 8 C. W. Litton United States · #159,122 worldwide 230 citations · 23 works
  9. 9 H. Leon Harter United States · #159,499 worldwide 239 citations · 32 works
  10. 10 D. C. Reynolds United States · #167,628 worldwide 275 citations · 44 works
All ranked researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Which keywords describe research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Heat Transfer, Large-Eddy Simulation, Two-Dimensional Materials, Biosensors, Mechanical Properties, Electronic Structure, Vortex Dynamics and Turbulent Flows.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Heat Transfer25▲ 8.7×14 topics
  2. Large-Eddy Simulation22▲ 20×5 topics
  3. Machine Learning20◆ 1.05×38 topics
  4. Mechanical Properties18▲ 3.1×25 topics
  5. Biosensors14▲ 4.9×10 topics
  6. Nanocomposites14▲ 2.9×18 topics
  7. Two-Dimensional Materials13▲ 10×4 topics
  8. Nanoparticles13▲ 1.84×28 topics
  9. Graphene11▲ 2.8×11 topics
  10. Microstructure11▲ 3.7×13 topics
  11. Electronic Structure10▲ 10×8 topics
  12. Vortex Dynamics10▲ 16×3 topics
  13. Semiconductors10▲ 5.9×4 topics
  14. Crystal Growth10▲ 6.3×9 topics
  15. Semiconductor10▲ 5.2×7 topics
  16. Turbulent Flows10▲ 17×3 topics
  17. Nanocrystals10▲ 6.2×5 topics
  18. Nanostructures10▲ 4.2×14 topics
  19. Boundary Layer Transition9▲ 23×1 topic
  20. Particle Image Velocimetry9▲ 23×1 topic
  21. Photonic Crystals9▲ 13×5 topics
  22. Radial Basis Functions9▲ 22×2 topics
  23. Polymer Composites9▲ 5.8×6 topics
  24. Thin Films8▲ 7.7×8 topics
  25. Optoelectronic Devices8▲ 15×2 topics
  26. Adaptive Mesh Refinement8▲ 22×2 topics
  27. High-Order Schemes8▲ 22×2 topics
  28. Turbulent Flow8▲ 11×4 topics
  29. Shock-Wave Interactions8▲ 34×1 topic
  30. Turbulence Modeling8▲ 34×1 topic
  31. Optical Modulators7▲ 8.7×3 topics
  32. Signal Processing7▲ 9.2×6 topics
  33. Autonomous Vehicles7▲ 6.0×4 topics
  34. MIMO Radar7▲ 37×2 topics
  35. Metamaterials7▲ 8.5×5 topics
  36. Photoluminescence7▲ 15×2 topics
  37. Light-Emitting Diodes7▲ 7.3×3 topics
  38. Semiconducting Transition Metal Dichalcogenides7▲ 17×1 topic
  39. Van der Waals Heterostructures7▲ 17×1 topic
  40. Transparent Conductors6▲ 8.5×2 topics

Which research topics does Wright-Patterson Air Force Base publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows, Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics, 2D Materials and Applications and Radar Systems and Signal Processing.

Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows: 9 fractional worksComputational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics: 8 fractional works2D Materials and Applica…72D Materials and Applications: 7 fractional worksRadar Systems and Signal…5Radar Systems and Signal Processing: 5 fractional worksCombustion and flame dynamics: 4 fractional worksAerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows: 4 fractional worksHuman-Automation Interac…4Human-Automation Interaction and Safety: 4 fractional worksPerovskite Materials and Applications: 4 fractional worksPhotonic and Optical Devices: 4 fractional worksGraphene research and ap…4Graphene research and applications: 4 fractional works
Computational MechanicsMaterials ChemistryAerospace EngineeringSocial Psychology1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows Computational Mechanics 9 works
  2. 2 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics Computational Mechanics 8 works
  3. 3 2D Materials and Applications Materials Chemistry 7 works
  4. 4 Radar Systems and Signal Processing Aerospace Engineering 5 works
  5. 5 Combustion and flame dynamics Computational Mechanics 4 works
  6. 6 Aerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows Aerospace Engineering 4 works
  7. 7 Human-Automation Interaction and Safety Social Psychology 4 works
  8. 8 Perovskite Materials and Applications Electrical and Electronic Engineering 4 works
  9. 9 Photonic and Optical Devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 4 works
  10. 10 Graphene research and applications Materials Chemistry 4 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available14.5%not open85.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors6.5%domestic only93.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Wright-Patterson AFB

All research institutions in Wright-Patterson AFB

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.