CASCADE TECHNOLOGIES INC — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: At present, the predictive capability of simulation codes and models used in the conceptua

Description

At present, the predictive capability of simulation codes and models used in the conceptual planning and design of high-speed propulsion systems is limited by the ability to describe the complex flow fields inside the combustor, mixing models, detailed chemistry and turbulence-chemistry interactions, and subgrid-closure models. The objective of the proposed work is to develop and validate a high-fidelity LES combustion model based on Flamelet Progress Variable Approach for the accurate prediction of high-speed turbulent combustion. At Cascade, we have a state-of-the-art, fully unstructured, multi-physics LES solver that is currently being used to simulate turbulent combustion in military aircraft engines. Our present efforts are on extending our simulation tool to high-speed turbulent combustion, improve its performance and further validate our approach. In Phase I, a comprehensive program is proposed that consists of (i) an a priori study to evaluate critical model assumption of the flamelet-formulation for reacting jet in high speed-relevant cross-flow conditions and (ii) a posteriori validation and applicability assessment of the LES flamelet-combustion model for supersonic combustion against experimental data. The results of these studies will be leveraged towards model development/assessment, validation of the simulation tool, and improvement of the predictive capabilities of the methodology for high-speed turbulent combustion.