Evaluation of a Particle Method for the Ellipsoidal Statistical Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook Equation (PREPRINT)

Abstract

A particle method is presented for the numerical simulation of rarefied gas flows, based on the ellipsoidal statistical Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (ES-BGK) model of the Boltzmann equation. The method includes consideration of rotational nonequilibrium, and enforces exact momentum and energy conservation for a mixture involving monatomic and diatomic species. This method is applied to the simulation of a nozzle flow of the type associated with cold-gas spacecraft thrusters, and flowfield characteristics are compared with experimental data as well as results from direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and Navier-Stokes simulations of the same flow. The ES-BGK method is shown to allow for a relatively high degree of accuracy in transitional flow regimes, while avoiding the intermolecular collision calculations which typically make the DSMC simulation of low Knudsen number flows prohibitively expensive.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA444012

Entities

People

  • Iain D. Boyd
  • Jonathan M. Burt

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Boltzmann Equation
  • Cold Gases
  • Collisions
  • Energy Conservation
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equations
  • Experimental Data
  • Flow
  • Gas Flow
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Rarefied Gases
  • Simulations
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Thrusters

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Dynamics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster