Advanced Chemistry and Radiation Modules for Hypersonic Signatures

The flight and environment conditions encountered by vehicles operating in the Mach 10 to 20+, or high hypersonic, regime are complex and difficult to model. Under such conditions, ablating heat shield material is entrained in the flow in the form of gases and particulates and reactive chemistry between atmospheric and ablating species creates a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) environment.The flow may ionize and form a plasma sheath around the vehicle and the boundary layer transitions from laminar to turbulent. All these effects have a strong impact on the vehicle electro-optic/infrared and radar signatures, interfering with detection, tracking, targeting, and aim-point selection.Spectral Sciences, Inc. proposes to develop innovative hypersonic flowfield signature simulation software.The proposed software will be interfaced to existing, high fidelity flow solvers to enable a practical and accurate end-to-end simulation capability for hypersonic signatures.The proposed approach is based on several innovations which will enable 3D, turbulent simulations to accurately predict hypersonic threat signatures.Approved for Public Release | 18-MDA-9710 (6 Jul 18)