Two laser-driven mix experiments to study reshock and shear

In an effort to better understand mix in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) implosion cores, a series of laser-driven mix experiments has been designed for the University of Rochester's OMEGA laser. Our objective is to perform experiments to investigate the turbulent mixing at material interfaces when subject to multiple shocks and reshocks or high-speed shear. Ultimately, these experiments are providing detailed quantitative measurements to assist in validation efforts for the BHR-2 mix model, which is implemented in the RAGE hydrodynamics code. The Reshock experiment studies the physical process of shocking and reshocking mix layers. Radiographs are recorded to compile a temporal evolution of the mixing layer and its subsequent reshock, compression, and re-growth phases. The Shear experiment investigates shear-driven growth of a mix layer, and radiography captures the time evolution of the development of turbulent mixing due to shear. Simulations of both the Reshock and Shear experiments using RAGE and the BHR-2 mix model demonstrate good agreement with the mix evolution seen in the experimental data, giving confidence that BHR-2 is capable of simulating the behavior of both compressive and shear-driven turbulent flows.     

Analysis of semi-classical potentials for molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of warm dense matter

Effective, semi-classical potentials may present a powerful tool for the determination of properties of warm dense matter, systems characterized by both moderate coupling and moderate degeneracy. However, this requires the use of these potentials in a regime where the approximations employed in their derivation begin to break down. This work presents a careful analysis of the methodology and approximations used to derive semi-classical potentials for Coulomb systems. Particular attention is paid to the appearance of many-body effects and the techniques that may be used to model them. Analytical arguments and simple examples indicate that the role of many-body effects cannot be ignored in the warm dense matter regime, and those semi-classical Coulomb potentials that focus on the pair interaction do not adequately treat many-body effects.     

Comparison of molecular tagging velocimetry data and direct simulation Monte Carlo simulations in supersonic micro jet flows

We present results of a combined experimental computational study of free jet flow produced by a 1 mm (height)ǹ mm (span) nominally Mach 2 supersonic jet. Two-dimensional maps of u_x, the component of velocity parallel to the principal flow axis, are obtained experimentally, by acetone molecular tagging velocimetry (MTV), and computationally, by the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, at a stagnation pressure and temperature of 10 torr and 300 K, respectively. In all cases, direct comparison of the experimental data and the predictions from DSMC showed excellent agreement, with only minor deviations which, in most cases, can be ascribed to either the inherent uncertainty in the MTV or small uncertainties in the measured wall pressures.     

Monte Carlo simulation in the stochastic analysis of non-linear systems under external stationary Poisson white noise input

A method for the evaluation of the probability density function (p.d.f.) of the response process of non-linear systems under external stationary Poisson white noise excitation is presented. The method takes advantage of the great accuracy of the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) in evaluating the first two moments of the response process by considering just few samples. The quasi-moment neglect closure is used to close the infinite hierarchy of the moment differential equations of the response process. Moreover, in order to determine the higher order statistical moments of the response, the second-order probabilistic information given by MCS in conjunction with the quasi-moment neglect closure leads to a set of linear differential equations. The quasi-moments up to a given order are used as partial probabilistic information on the response process in order to find the p.d.f. by means of the C-type Gram-Charlier series expansion.     

Monte Carlo analysis of dissociation and recombination behind strong shock waves in nitrogen

Computations are presented for the relaxation zone behind strong, one-dimensional shock waves in nitrogen. The analysis is performed with the direct simulation Monte Carlo method (DSMC). The DSMC code is vectorized for efficient use on a supercomputer. The code simulates translational, rotational and vibrational energy exchange and dissociative and recombinative chemical reactions. A new model is proposed for the treatment of three body recombination collisions in the DSMC technique which usually simulates binary collision events. The new model represents improvement over previous models in that it can be employed with a large range of chemical rate data, does not introduce into the flow field troublesome pairs of atoms which may recombine upon further collision (pseudo-particles) and is compatible with the vectorized code. The computational results are compared with existing experimental data. It is shown that the derivation of chemical rate coefficients must account for the degree of vibrational nonequilibrium in the flow. A nonequilibrium chemistry model is employed together with equilibrium rate data to compute successfully the flow in several different nitrogen shock waves.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1990.     

Transport of mass and energy of polyatomic gases in magnetic fields computed by a Monte Carlo algorithm

The transport of mass through a rectangular channel and of energy between parallel surfaces of polyatomic gases in the Knudsen regime and in the presence of external magnetic fields is calculated by means of a Monte Carlo algorithm. A four-parameter mathematical model is proposed that takes into account the dynamical aspects of molecule-surface interactions and the influence of external magnetic fields on the angular momentum of polyatomic molecules. The Monte Carlo algorithm makes use of the Latin super-cube sampling method, correlated samplings, and the concept of importance sampling. The four parameters are determined by an optimised method based on the Monte Carlo algorithm and on experimental results for the mass flux rate of the gases N₂ and CO in the presence of external magnetic fields through a rectangular channel with surfaces coated with Au. The optimised values of the parameters are used to determine the behaviour of the mass flux rate through a rectangular channel and the heat flux between two parallel plates for the gases N₂ and CO as a function of the applied magnetic field. The calculated curves fit the experimental data well.Received: 18 February 2003, Accepted: 2 September 2003, Published online: 12 December 2003PACS: 05.60.-k, 51.60. + aCorrespondence to: G.M. Kremer     

Ablative Rayleigh–Taylor instability in the limit of an infinitely large density ratio

The instability of ablation fronts strongly accelerated toward the dense medium under the conditions of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is addressed in the limit of an infinitely large density ratio. The analysis serves to demonstrate that the flow is irrotational to first order, reducing the nonlinear analysis to solve a two-potential flows problem. Vorticity appears at the following orders in the perturbation analysis. This result simplifies greatly the analysis. The possibility for using boundary integral methods opens new perspectives in the nonlinear theory of the ablative RT instability in ICF. A few examples are given at the end of the Note. To cite this article: P. Clavin, C. Almarcha, C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Direct simulation Monte Carlo study of the formation and growth of clusters in the case of vapor expansion from a suddenly switched spherical source

The processes of formation of silicon clusters in the case of vapor expansion from a suddenly switched spherical source into an ambient inert gas are considered. Vapor expansion and condensation are described by the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. A model of clusterization is proposed, which describes reactions leading to the growth and decomposition of clusters and corresponding energytransfer processes. The main features of cluster formation in the case of vapor expansion into a gas are considered. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 101–109, January–February, 2009.     

Numerical modelling of fluid and solid thermomechanics in additive manufacturing by powder-bed fusion: Continuum and level set formulation applied to track- and part-scale simulations

The thermomechanical analysis of powder-bed fusion using a laser beam is simulated in both meso- and macroscales within a framework combining continuum assumption and level-set formulation. The mesoscale simulation focuses on laser interaction with the powder bed, and on subsequent melting and solidification. Modelling is conducted at the scale of material deposition, in which powder-bed fusion, hydrodynamics in the melt pool, and thermal stress are simulated. The macroscale model focuses on part construction and post-deposition. During construction, by contrast with the mesoscale approach, the fluid flow in the fusion zone is ignored and material addition is simplified by modelling it at the scale of entire layers, or fractions of layers. The modelling of the energy input is adapted accordingly. This thermomechanical model addresses heat exchange, residual stress, and distortion at the part's scale. In both approaches, adaptive remeshing is applied, providing a good compromise between the needs to provide accurate prediction and maintaining sustainable computation times.