Abstract
Scientific visualization techniques have been used to probe and understand better the physics of non-equilibrium flows. A visualization methodology for nonequilibrium flow simulations using 3-D velocity distribution functions (VDFs) is illustrated in application to various non-equilibrium flow problems. A one-dimensional normal shock wave problem is considered for two different upstream Mach numbers corresponding to weak and strong non-equilibrium flow conditions. The iso-surfaces of 3-D VDFs inside the shock wave obtainedusing various solution techniques including the ES-BGK method, DSMC technique, Mott-Smith solution, and the Navier-Stokes (NS) distribution functions using Chapman-Enskog theory are compared and contrasted. The visualization technique is extended to two-dimensional hypersonic flow at M-19 past a flat plate with sharp leading edge by comparing the isosurfaces of 3-D NS VDFs obtained at three different locations in the flowfield. The visualization of 3-D VDFs is shown to provide valuable information about the degree and direction of non-equilibrium for both 1-D and 2-D flows.
Keywords
direct simulation Monte Carlo; velocity distribution functions; rarefied flows; non-equilibrium flows; visualization
Date of this Version
2011
DOI
10.1063/1.3562676
Recommended Citation
Venkattraman, A and Alexeenko, Alina A., "Visualizing Non-Equilibrium Flow Simulations using 3-D Velocity Distribution Functions" (2011). School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Faculty Publications. Paper 54.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3562676
Comments
Copyright (2011) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in (A. Venkattraman* and A. Alexeenko, “Visualizing Non-Equilibrium Flow Simulations using 3-D Velocity Distribution Functions”, AIP Conf. Proc., Vol. 1333, 27th International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, pp. 366-371, 2011.) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3562676. The following article has been submitted to/accepted by [American Institute of Physics]. After it is published, it will be found at (http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3562676). Copyright (2011) A. Venkattraman* and A. Alexeenko. This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.