Computational Modeling of Meteor-Generated Ground Pressure Signatures

We present a thorough validation of a computational approach to predict infrasonic signatures of centimeter-sized meteoroids. We assume that the energy deposition along the meteor trail is dominated by atmospheric drag and simulate the steady, inviscid flow of air in thermochemical equilibrium to compute the meteoroid's near-body pressure signature. This signature is then propagated through a stratified and windy atmosphere to the ground using a methodology adapted from aircraft sonic-boom analysis. An assessment of the numerical accuracy of the near field and the far field solver is presented. The results show that when the source of the signature is the cylindrical Mach-cone, the simulations closely match the observations. The prediction of the shock rise-time, the zero-peak amplitude of the waveform, and the duration of the positive pressure phase are consistently within 10% of the measurements. Uncertainty in the shape of the meteoroid results in a poorer prediction of the trailing part of the waveform. Overall, our results independently verify energy deposition estimates deduced from optical observations

Cart3D Simulations for the Second AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop

Simulation results are presented for all test cases prescribed in the Second AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop. For each of the four nearfield test cases, we compute pressure signatures at specified distances and off-track angles, using an inviscid, embedded-boundary Cartesian-mesh flow solver with output-based mesh adaptation. The cases range in complexity from an axisymmetric body to a full low-boom aircraft configuration with a powered nacelle. For efficiency, boom carpets are decomposed into sets of independent meshes and computed in parallel. This also facilitates the use of more effective meshing strategies - each off-track angle is computed on a mesh with good azimuthal alignment, higher aspect ratio cells, and more tailored adaptation. The nearfield signatures generally exhibit good convergence with mesh refinement. We introduce a local error estimation procedure to highlight regions of the signatures most sensitive to mesh refinement. Results are also presented for the two propagation test cases, which investigate the effects of atmospheric profiles on ground noise. Propagation is handled with an augmented Burgers' equation method (NASA's sBOOM), and ground noise metrics are computed with LCASB

Performance of a New CFD Flow Solver Using a Hybrid Programming Paradigm

This paper presents several algorithmic innovations and a hybrid programming style that lead to highly scalable performance using shared memory for a new computational fluid dynamics flow solver. This hybrid model is then converted to a strict message-passing implementation, and performance results for the two are compared. Results show that using this hybrid approach our OpenMP implementation is actually marginally faster than the MPI version, with parallel speedups of up to 599 out of 640 using OpenMP and 486 with MPI

Non-oscillatory forward-in-time method for incompressible flows

This research extends the capabilities of Non-oscillatory Forward-in-Time (NFT) solvers operating on unstructured meshes to allow for accurate simulation of incompressible turbulent flows. This is achieved by the development of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) turbulent flow methodologies and the development of parallel option of the flow solver. The effective use of LES and DES requires a development of a subgrid-scale model. Several subgrid-scale models are implemented and studied, and their efficacy is assessed. The NFT solvers employed in this work are based on the Multidimensional Positive Definite Advection Transport Algorithm (MPDATA) that facilitates novel implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) approach to treating turbulence. The flexibility and robustness of the new NFT MPDATA solver are studied and successfully validated using well established benchmarks and concentrate on a flow past a sphere. The flow statistics from the solutions are compared against the existing experimental and numerical data and fully confirm the validity of the approach. The parallel implementation of the flow solver is also documented and verified showing a substantial speedup of computations. The proposed method lays foundations for further studies and developments, especially for exploring the potential of MPDATA in the context of ILES and associated treatments of boundary conditions at solid boundaries