Particle method coupled with a radiation transport solver for the simulation of high-enthalpy, non-equilibrium plasma

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Marcel Pfeiffer
• Subject Area: Fluid Mechanics
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 393159129

Within the project proposal, a novel microscopic method coupling particle-based numerical fluid dynamics with a radiation transport solver for the flow field shall be developed. Consequently, detailed numerical investigations of radiating plasma flows in strong thermal and chemical non-equilibrium will be possible for the first time such as during the re-entry of spacecraft, in electric propulsion systems and several other challenging applications involving plasma. Previous approaches tackle this subject by coupling conventional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with a radiation transport solver. However, these methods are not applicable for non-equilibrium flows as the continuum assumption breaks down. Additionally, the modeling of internal degrees of freedom of atoms and molecules (rotational, vibrational and/or electronic excitation) is only feasible with several simplifications with CFD methods due to discrete energy levels. The treatment of these molecular properties though is essential for a physically-accurate modeling of radiation. The newly developed methods for the coupling as well as the efficient solution of the radiation transport equation shall be verified and validated by comparison to experimental data (Hayabusa and Stardust re-entry). It is expected that the measured radiation spectra can be reproduced more accurately due to the high-fidelity physical modeling of the internal degrees of freedom within the flow, enabling an underlying understanding of the experimental measurements and effects in the plasma flows.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partner: Dr.-Ing. Stefan Löhle