High speed flow simulations are also of interest to many organizations outside of NASA thus the majority of the NASA applications also apply to non-NASA organizations. Moreover, the generality of these procedures proposed to be developed will allow them to apply them for other flow applications such as cardiovascular flows to accurately predict wall shear stress, flow over wind turbines to obtain better designs, two-phase annular flows to predict liquid film thickness to avoid dry out conditions, etc. In addition there are other types of physics such as electromagnetics and heat transfer that have solutions with high gradients that can also utilize these types of meshes for simulations.
NASA applications of this technology include any type of computational fluid dynamics simulations that involve complex geometry and/or complex flow features whose solution resolution needs cannot be precisely defined before starting the solution process. Applications in the aeronautics area include airflow around aircraft and engines. Applications to astronautics include propulsion, liftoff and reentry aerodynamics, and energy generation systems in space. Problems with a wide range of spatial scales resulting from complex geometry and flow features will benefit most from the proposed developments. Specific examples may include passive and/or active flow control devices, inlet configurations for blended wing body with boundary layer ingestion, hypersonic flight vehicles with scramjet engines, crew launch and exploration vehicles, launch vehicles, re-entry capsules, tethered ballute configurations. In addition to these "high speed" aerodynamics applications, there are also NASA commercial applications related to power generation and other spacecraft systems in a low gravity environment. The mesh resolution needs of two phase flow systems in such environments can also be addressed by the proposed developments. Finally, there are also biomedical applications of CFD such as the effects of low gravity on the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system.
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