AN INTERACTIVE TOOL FOR DISCRETE PHASE ANALYSIS IN TWO-PHASEFLOWS AN INTERACTIVE TOOL FOR DISCRETE PHASE ANALYSIS IN TWO-PHASEFLOWS

MULTIPHASE FLOW EFFECTS IN LIQUID AND SOLID PROPULSION SYSTEMS HAVE PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS ON PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY. FOR EXAMPLE, THE DYNAMICS OF ALUMINUM OXIDE PARTICULATES IN AN SRM AFFECTS THE SLAG ACCUMULATION, THEREBY AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE, AND THE PARTICULATE IMPINGEMENT ON THE MOTOR CASING AND NOZZLE AFFECTS THE DURABILITY VIA ITS INFLUENCE ON THE THERMAL LOAD ON THE INSULATOR. THE EFFECT OF THE DISCRETE PHASE ON PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY CAN BE VERY SIGNIFICANT EVEN WHEN THE CONCENTRATION OF THE DISCRETE PHASE IS LOW ENOUGH TO NOT ALTER THE CONTINUOUS PHASE FLOW FIELD IN A SIGNIFICANT MANNER. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM PROPOSED HEREIN IS AIMED AT DEVELOPING AN INNOVATIVE WORKSTATION BASED ANALYSIS TOOL WHICH CAN BE USED BY ANALYSTS AND DESIGNERS TO INTERACTIVELYASSESS THE DISCRETE PHASE EFFECTS DURING THE DEVELOPMENT ANDTESTING OF ROCKET PROPULSION SYSTEMS. THE WORKSTATION BASEDSOFTWARE WILL USE LAGRANGIAN ANALYSIS FOR THE DISCRETE PHASEMOTION AND WILL INCLUDE A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ALLOWING THE USER TO INTERACTIVELY CHANGE THE RELEVANT PARAMETERS TO CONDUCT PARAMETRIC STUDIES.