Numerical Investigations in the Backflow Region of a Vacuum Plume

摘要

Four tasks were completed in this period and results were published in AIAApapers. First, a Boltzmann-2D code, was developed and applied to compute MSFC-A2 nozzle/plume flow field. It solved the two-dimensional Boltzmann-BGK equation using the Finite Difference Discrete Ordinate (FDDO) numerical technique. The code was validated by experimental data for one-dimensional shock structure predictions, paper 95-2056. Successful results for nozzle/plume flow simulation using the developed Boltzmann-2D code were presented at the 1995 AIAA Aerospace Science Conference, paper 95-0627. Second, a computer code solving two-dimensional Burnett equations was developed and applied to low-density nozzle flow field calculation. Results were also published at the 1994 AIAA Thermophysics Conference, paper 94-2055. Third, the developed two-dimensional Burnett code was extended to compute axisymmetric flow field inside MSFC-A2 nozzle, paper 95-2008. The computed nozzle exit conditions are used as input data for Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) plume calculation. Fourth, a DSMC code was modified to compute the exhausted plume near the nozzle exit and in the backflow region.