Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
A Unified Gaskinetic Methodology for Full-Knudsen-Range Flows with Chemically Reacting Effects, Phase I
Project Description
ZONA proposes a Unified Gas Kinetic Scheme (UGKS) to cover the full Knudsen number range from the continuum flow to free molecular flow that can simultaneously exist in the jet nozzle flow of the spacecraft. In the UGKS solver, the BGK model of Boltzmann equation is solved directly with finite volume method based on the Discrete Ordinate Method (DOM). In the UGKS computation the convective terms and collision term is computed in one step with a multi-scale scheme without splitting. The UGKS also closely couples the update of macroscopic conservative variables with the update of microscopic gas distribution functions in one step. At the continuum flow regime, the UGKS recovers the Navier-Stokes solutions with much larger time step than regular direct BGK solver where UGKS essentially becomes a shock-capture scheme. In the rarefied flow regime, UGKS recovers the direct BGK method up to the free molecular flow. With the UGKS, the jet-like flow can be simulated with a unique flow solver. Furthermore, a two-species chemical reaction will be incorporated in UGKS. The UGKS will be applied to various test cases whose results will be validated with others' computational results and available experimental data to verify its accuracy and computational efficiency.
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Anticipated Benefits
Potential Non-NASA commercial applications are supported by aerospace and non-aerospace domains and provide industry for rarefied gas flows application with a wide range of Kn number and Mach number. Such examples for defense industry include hypersonic flows around missiles and rocket nozzles. For civil industry, UGKS applications include aerosol effects on weather prediction, materials processing inside vacuum chamber especially for the semi-conductor industry, air purification with tools made of fine fibers such as masks, and rarefied gas flows associated with MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) such as various gas sensors. ZONA will extend the proposed UGKS and package them into a commercial software. Potential customers include DoD, Depart. of Homeland Security, chemical and civil engineering firms, vacuum industry, and semiconductor industry, etc. The developed Unified GasKinetic (UGKS) solver can be used for hypersonic applications from continuum to rarefied flow regimes for thermochemical nonequilibrium effects up to ionization/plasma flows and including chemical reaction. The UGKS solver can generate accurate aerodynamic forces and heat rates. Typical applications are for launch vehicles in space access, entry command module and ballutes in atmospheric entry; plume flows in chemical engines or rockets. 
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZONA Technology, Inc. | Lead Organization |
Industry
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
|
Scottsdale, Arizona |
Langley Research Center
(LaRC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Hampton, Virginia |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Arizona
-
Virginia
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.