The outcome of Phase 2 activities will be a powerful CFD-based design and analysis tool for propulsion engines of relevance to NASA. This tool is envisioned to be useful for full rocket engine simulations, injector design, etc. Specific applications at NASA of this capability include: (a) high-fidelity simulations of nano-launcher upper stage propulsion systems, (b) design improvements of injectors of J-2X and RS-68 engines as well as potential novel designs to be developed for NASA's proposed heavy lift vehicle, (c) modeling of multi-element injectors coupled with fuel and oxidizer feedlines and manifolds, (d) prediction of stability and stability margins, etc.
The computational tool resulting from this project will have wide-ranging commercial applications. The Hybrid RANS-LES methodology can be used for a wide variety of engineering applications involving unsteady turbulent flows. The reacting flow capability can be used for simulating combusting flows in various industrial applications, such as gas turbine engines, diesel engines, etc. The real-fluids methodology can be used in a large number of industrial flow situations involving both chemically inert and reacting flows. With additions of multi-phase spray combustion modeling capability, the applicability of this tool can be further broadened.
More »