Heated Plume Prediction and Application

Heated plumes in a crossflow produce a thermal infrared signature and can impinge on temperature-sensitive systems downstream; both factors can degrade the performance and survivability of military assets. No validated code exists that can model heated jets from non-circular nozzles in a crossflow. Current CFD solutions are problematic due to the numerous expert modeling choices that they require. CFD issues that arise include inadequate grid resolution, imprecise boundary conditions, and deficient turbulence models. ThermoAnalytics, Metacomp Technologies, and Dr. Joseph Schetz of Virginia Tech propose an integrated program of experiment, advanced CFD modeling, and test-model validation to develop a validated, accurate, simple-to-use plume prediction tool that can model heated plumes injected into a crossflow. The proposed tool will predict the flowfield of heated plumes based on a simple set of geometry, temperature, and velocity inputs. The automated CFD tool, based on Metacomp's CFD++ and MIME codes, will automatically generate the grid and complete a CFD analysis for the flow from non-traditional shaped exits and groups of exits. A comprehensive wind tunnel testing program will validate the code's ability to predict the flowfield, infrared radiance of the plume, and the thermal effects of plume impingement on downstream surfaces.