Master of Sciences (Engineering), Case Western Reserve University, 2022, EMC - Aerospace Engineering

Numerical simulations are performed to support a combustion experiment campaign in partial gravity in a centrifuge designed for use in conjunction with the NASA Glenn Research Center's Zero Gravity Research Facility (a 5.2 second drop tower). The centrifuge is a circular dome chamber of volume ~ 0.3 m3 with 81.3 cm diameter. The artificial gravitational field is controlled by the rotation rate of the chamber. This is complicated by gravitational gradients as a function of radius and by Coriolis force as a function of flow velocity. The model is constructed with Ansys FLUENT utilizing a rotating non-inertial reference frame and simulates the entire chamber volume containing a heptane candle with a wick length of 10 mm × 3.18 mm diameter located at 32 cm from the centrifuge center. Simulation results locally near the candle are compared to a series of experiment images where the flame tip bends in the Coriolis force direction. The study investigates the recirculation effects and the relation between the buoyancy and the Coriolis force in how they affect the flame. The model simulates the experiments well and suggestions are made to avoid recirculation effects in future centrifuge experiments.

Committee: Ya-Ting Liao (Committee Chair); Paul Barnhart (Committee Member); Ankit Sharma (Committee Member); Paul Ferkul (Committee Member); Michael Johnston (Committee Member); Bryan Schmidt (Committee Member) Subjects: Aerospace Engineering