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Mentor: Michael P. Kinzel

Description: Solid rockets used to propel hypersonic vehicles can involve a compressible-gas flow laden with particulate from both the combustion reactants and products. Such multiphase flow processes are complicated. Hence, conventional gas dynamics assessments relevant to design can be inaccurate. Advanced computational methods, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), is a modern approach to account for such effects. The ability of the particulate to affect the nozzle/plume character, as well as CFD to capture these effects are indicated in the computational results shown. Note that for identical flow rates, the condition with particulate (upper) completely changed the shock character with respect to pure gas (lower). Such CFD models typically invoke multiphase-flow treatment of these particles through either Eulerian or Lagrangian approaches. Eulerian approaches model particles through their bulk treatment, where an agglomerated effect of the particles (in each computational cell) is coupled to the gas dynamics equations. Some modeling methods have advantages and disadvantages in terms of computational requirements, implementation, accuracy and simplicity, any of which may steer a modeler towards one path or the other. The objective of this project aims to develop a detailed comparison of the computational accuracy, time, and complexity by running a series of non-reacting simulations. The technical outcome of the proposed effort is anticipated to be guidelines for future modeling efforts.

After training by the mentor and graduate student, the REU student will work through a research experience aiming to develop a working knowledge of fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, rockets, and CFD. The REU student is to be trained in the software by both the graduate student and mentor in the first week of the program, with continuous training throughout the program. The REU student will perform a series of CFD simulations in the context of the commercial CFD code, ANSYS-Fluent, that evaluates both Eulerian and Lagrangian multiphase-flow methods for axisymmetric jets with the specific goal of documenting and understanding computational accuracy, time and complexity for Eulerian and Lagrangian methods. The project intends to introduce the student to CFD methods, efficiently simulating matrices of conditions, and validation and verification processes relevant to all computational engineering. This computational research project will expose the REU student to modern tools relevant to enable them to excel in graduate school. Lastly, the mentor will have the students document their results with a research poster and summary report, which will contribute to conference and/or journal publications with the students as co-authors.


Mach contours for compressible flow through a converging-diverging nozzle with (upper) and without (lower) particulate in the flow.