Enhancements to Continuum Plume Flowfield Models for Transitional Flow Simulations

Characteristics of missile plume signature emissions have a great potential to enhance defensive capabilities in a number of important areas related to Ballistic Missile Defense Systems (BMDS). Supporting MDA"s engineering applications related to missile typing, discrimination, tracking, algorithm development, etc. requires estimation of many parameters by the plume models, which can be very expensive for complex high-altitude targets that are not easily measured. The proposed effort will systematically develope, validate and implement DSMC-derived continuum enhancement to the MDA-sponsored RPFM2D next-generation, continuum plume flowfield solver for supporting plume IR/Visible signature predictions and extending their applicability from the low-altitude (0-100km) into the mid-altitude (100-200km) range. This novel technology enhancement represents a significant upgrade of capabilities to MDA"s recent investments in plume flowfield modeling technology. Most significantly, it provides a robust, accurate, very-efficient, and lower-cost alternative to hybrid coupled CFD/DSMC plume flowfield modeling that is presently too CPU-intensive for routine systems applications, with a speed-up factor of ~10-100 anticipated over the hybrid CFD/DSMC methodology.