Plume Interactions of Multiple Jets Expanding into Vacuum: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

Abstract

Numerical and experimental results for a rarefied gas expansion through a thin circular orifice are presented. The orifice flow was used as a calibration test for a torsional thrust stand designated to measure force levels from 0.000001 to 0.001 N. Molecular nitrogen, argon, and helium at room temperature are used as test gases. The mass flux and thrust measurements are compared with the direct simulation Monte Carlo results for Knudsen numbers from 40 to 0.01 and plenum to facility background pressure ratios of 1,000-10,000,000. Factors that affect the total propulsive force, such as jet backflow and facility background gas penetrating the jet, are analyzed. The measured and calculated mass flux and total propulsive force were found to agree well for Knudsen numbers less than 1.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 10, 2003
Accession Number
ADA523287

Entities

People

  • A. Alexeenko
  • A. Ketsdever
  • M. Ivanov
  • N. Selden
  • P. Vashchenkov
  • S. Gimelshein

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Backflow
  • Calibration
  • Experimental Data
  • Flow
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Gas Flow
  • Geometry
  • Knudsen Number
  • Mach Number
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Rarefied Gases
  • Simulations
  • Stagnation Pressure
  • Three Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Plasma Physics.