Engineering topics

Barad, Michael F.

Publications and source records attributed to Barad, Michael F..

22 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS2014

Parallel Adaptive High-Order CFD Simulations Characterizing Cavity Acoustics for the Complete SOFIA Aircraft

This paper presents one-of-a-kind MPI-parallel computational fluid dynamics simulations for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is an airborne, 2.5-meter infrared telescope mounted in an open cavity in the aft of a Boeing 747SP. These simulations focus on how the unsteady flow field inside and over the cavity interferes with the optical path and mounting of the telescope. A temporally fourth-order Runge-Kutta, and spatially fifth-order WENO-5Z scheme was used to perform implicit large eddy simulations. An immersed boundary method provides automated gridding for complex geometries and natural coupling to a block-structured Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement framework. Strong scaling studies using NASA's Pleiades supercomputer with up to 32,000 cores and 4 billion cells shows excellent scaling. Dynamic load balancing based on execution time on individual AMR blocks addresses irregularities caused by the highly complex geometry. Limits to scaling beyond 32K cores are identified, and targeted code optimizations are discussed.

Acoustics↗

NASA NTRS2014

Computational Prediction of Pressure and Thermal Environments in the Flame Trench With Launch Vehicles

One of the key objectives for the development of the 21st Century Space Launch Com- plex is to provide the exibility needed to support evolving launch vehicles and spacecrafts with enhanced range capacity. The launch complex needs to support various proprietary and commercial vehicles with widely di erent needs. The design of a multi-purpose main ame de ector supporting many di erent launch vehicles becomes a very challenging task when considering that even small geometric changes may have a strong impact on the pressure and thermal environment. The physical and geometric complexity encountered at the launch site require the use of state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools to predict the pressure and thermal environments. Due to harsh conditions encountered in the launch environment, currently available CFD methods which are frequently employed for aerodynamic and ther- mal load predictions in aerospace applications, reach their limits of validity. This paper provides an in-depth discussion on the computational and physical challenges encountered when attempting to provide a detailed description of the ow eld in the launch environ- ment. Several modeling aspects, such as viscous versus inviscid calculations, single-species versus multiple-species ow models, and calorically perfect gas versus thermally perfect gas, are discussed. The Space Shuttle and the Falcon Heavy launch vehicles are used to study di erent engine and geometric con gurations. Finally, we provide a discussion on traditional analytical tools which have been used to provide estimates on the expected pressure and thermal loads.

thermal↗

NASA NTRS2012

Equivalent Source Method Applied to Launch Acoustic Simulations

Aeroacoustic simulations of the launch environment are described. A hybrid computational fluid dynamics (CFD)/computational aeroacoustic (CAA) approach is developed in order to accurately and efficiently predict the sound pressure level spectrum on the launch vehicle and surrounding structures. The high-fidelity CFD code LAVA (Launch Ascent and Vehicle Analysis), is used to generate pressure time history at select locations in the flow field. A 3D exterior Helmholtz solver is then used to iteratively determine a set of monopole sources which mimic the noise generating mechanisms identified by the CFD solver. The acoustic pressure field generated from the Helmholtz solver is then used to evaluate the sound pressure levels.

Housman, Jeffrey A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Adaptive Immersed Boundary Simulations for the Launch Environment

A high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulation of a next generation heavy lift space vehicle during launch is presented. The purpose of the simulation is to evaluate the acoustic overpressures during ignition to permit re-design of the launch site to safely handle heavy lift vehicles. The simulation is performed using the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) code, an immersed boundary block-structured Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement based solver. A verification and validation study of LAVA in the launch environment context is also performed, comparing to flight data and previous simulations of a Space Shuttle launch

Barad, Michael F.↗