STOCHASTIC PARTICLE TURBULENT TWOPHASE FLOW ANALYSIS OF AERODYNAMIC SCOURING

THE PROBLEM OF AERODYNAMIC ENTRAINMENT OF PARTICULATE FROM FRANGIBLE MATERIALS HAS CONSIDERABLE GEOPHYSICAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE. PROBLEMS SUCH AS SOIL EROSION, TERRESTRIAL AND PLANETARY DUST STORMS, COAL MINE SAFETY, JET OR DOWNWASH IMPINGEMENT, CHEMICAL PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES AND EXPLOSION GENERATED DUSTY BOUNDARY LAYERS ARE DEPENDENT ON THE PARTICLE SCOURING MECHANISM. THE EFFECT OF TURBULENT TWOPHASE FLOW INTERACTION PROCESSES COMPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND HAVE LIMITED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING. THE PRESENT PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THESE NEEDS BY APPLYING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES IN THE AREA OF TURBULENT PARTICLE INTERACTION MODELING TO IMPLEMENT A TOOL FOR TURBULENT TWOPHASE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW ANALYSES. THE TOOL WILL BE UTILIZED TO EXAMINE THE PARAMETRIC DEPENDENCIES OF THE ENTRAINMENT PROCESS RELATIVE TO A RECENTLY DEVELOPED DUSTY BOUNDARY LAYER DATA BASE COLLECTED BY THE DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR. KEY AND NOVEL FEATURES OF THE APPROACH INCLUDE A STOCHASTIC PARTICLE MODEL WITH DYNAMIC TURBULENT DIFFUSION AND GAS PHASE TURBULENCE COUPLING, AS WELL AS THE MIXING-CONTROLLED PARTICLE ENTRAINMENT SURFACE INTERACTION MODEL APPLIED TO A NEW AND HERETOFORE UNAVAILABLE DATA BASE. THE OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO RECONCILE THIS NEW DATA WITH THE HISTORICAL DATA FROM OTHER TECHNICAL FIELDS TO DEVELOP AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF AN IMPORTANT MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROBLEM.