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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/T05028/01
Title: A HIGH-ORDER CONTINUUM MODEL FOR COMPUTATIONAL HYPERSONIC AERODYNAMICS
Principal Investigator: Reese, Professor JM
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Organisation: University of Strathclyde
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 October 2004 Ends: 30 September 2007 Value (£): 149,421
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Aerodynamics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Although flow simulation is an important design tool in hypersonic vehicle aerodynamics, calculating the whole-body flow in some regimes is extremely problematic. This proposal focuses on aerodynamic flows around hypersonic vehicles that have, at the same time, regions of high and very low gas density. Currently, these cannot be handled within a single computational scheme. Navier-Stokes solvers are suitable for high-density flows but molecular dynamics methods are needed for the low-density regions, and coupling these together to resolve mixed-density flowfields is both theoretically complex and often computationally intractable in 3D. However, higher-order continuum-type equations (the Burnett equations) offer an alternative approach. These are corrections to the Navier-Stokes equations that extend the applicability of the continuum model into the rarefied regime. In a pilot study, the applicant has shown this new approach produces results for rarefied flows in a fraction of the computational time of molecular dynamics but with comparable accuracy. As the equations reduce to the Navier-Stokes equations in regions of low gradients or high density, they can also model transonic and mixeddensity flowfields efficiently. The pilot study was only for simple flows, so the applicant now seeks support to deploy and validate this higher-order model for hypersonic flows in a range of 3D configurations.This research project is a new collaboration with, and financially supported by, the MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl, Farnborough). Dstl wishes to build new UK research capabilities in modelling high-speed mixed-density flows for use in defence analysis and evaluation studies. They will provide experimental and computational results to help validate the new model, and co-host with the applicant a one-day open meeting (comprising seminars and a workshop) to present and discuss UK research in high-speed flow modelling. This meeting will also act as a forum to discuss the future growth and direction of this research community.
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Organisation Website: http://www.strath.ac.uk