NASA STTR 2004 Solicitation

FORM B - PROPOSAL SUMMARY


PROPOSAL NUMBER: 04 T8.02-9962
RESEARCH SUBTOPIC TITLE: Advanced High Fidelity Design and Analysis Tools For Space Propulsion
PROPOSAL TITLE: Practical Multi-Disciplinary Analysis Tools for Combustion Devices
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC) RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI)
NAME:Tetra Research Corporation NAME:Mississippi State University
ADDRESS:2610 Spicewood Trail ADDRESS:Engineering Research Center
CITY:Huntsville CITY:Mississippi State
STATE/ZIP:AL35811-2604 STATE/ZIP:MS39762-9627
PHONE:(256)539-1075 PHONE:(662)325-4586

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Rex Chamberlain
rex@tetraresearch.com
2610 Spicewood Trail
Huntsville, AL 35811-2604
(256)539-1075

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The use of multidisciplinary analysis (MDA) techniques for complex fluid/structure interaction phenomena is increasing as proven numerical and visualization algorithms and high performance computing (HPC) platforms become more prevalent. Parallel solution methodologies and networked computing clusters are readily available, yet the challenge of bringing highly sophisticated MDA research algorithms into a fast-paced NASA engineering environment still remains. In particular, if the time accurate solution of fluid and thermal structural responses becomes practical, then significant improvements in the analysis of modern rocket engine combustion chambers and other space transportation subsystems will be achieved. Continued improvements in current research tools and further validation of physical models are needed to develop practical MDA capabilities within the growing multidisciplinary engineering community. Our research will produce an innovative MDA system based on an existing multi-physics code (CHEM) to compute the turbulent, chemically reacting flow and coupled structural heating of given configurations. Our unique approach, involving solution adaptive algorithms on generalized unstructured grids, will provide NASA with an important capability to solve fluid/structure interaction problems in a collaborative engineering environment. Furthermore, our hands-on experience with complex MDA problems will help ensure that the research product will offer NASA a significantly improved, commercially viable analysis tool.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
This technology will provide NASA with an enhanced multi-disciplinary analysis capability for the prediction of chemically reacting flows in combustion devices with transient conjugate heat transfer of multiple solid materials. Potential enhancements to the proposed MDA tools include solid propellant burning with surface mass injection and pressure dependence, rotating reference frames for steady state turbomachinery analyses, more complex real fluids models, improved low Mach number performance, and extended model validation. The proposed methodology for the analysis of complex fluid/structure interaction problems is also well suited for extensions to additional multi-physics capabilities of commercial interest to NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
The growing trend toward collaborative and multi-disciplinary engineering is opening significant new markets as more complex problems can be addressed using advanced computational techniques. The ability to easily set up and analyze multi-disciplinary problems in a timely manner will allow industry to speed development of new products and streamline testing. Further enhancements to the CHEM MDA system, including a user-transparent extension to incompressible flows, will find application in the aerospace, automotive, electronics cooling, environmental, and nuclear industries. The basic architecture of the MDA tools will remain the same while new plug-in physical models will be developed to address niche markets.