Thermal non equilibrium implementation within Argo

Details

Supervisors

Chatelain, Philippe ; Schrooyen, Pierre

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil mécanicien, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The correct design of the ablative protection system of a spacecraft is crucial for any space mission involving atmospheric reentry. Such a design is possible through robust and reliable numerical tools which allow an accurate modeling of the aerothermal loads experienced by the thermal protection system. During atmospheric reentry, the extreme velocity of the vehicle will make it endure a harsh environment characterised by a non-equilibrium state due to the large thermal loads encountered. The present work addresses the implementation of thermal non-equilibrium within Argo, a discontinuous Galerkin numerical tool based on a strong coupling approach in the solving of the material response and the flow. The equilibrium assumption between the energy modes in the modeling of the flow field is alleviated by tracking the translational-rotational and vibrational-electronic energy modes at separate temperatures. The implementation is verified based on two test codes developed aside Argo. Several cases involving strong non-equilibrium phenomena are examined to illustrate the performances of the extended model. The obtained results demonstrated a large impact of non-equilibrium phenomena on the properties of the flow, especially on its chemical kinetic which is of prior interest when ablative processes are considered. This work aims to be a first step in the modeling of the thermal non-equilibrium within Argo. However, these results are sign of motivation for future work in improving the model presented in this work in order to capture high enthalpy flows in an even more accurate way.