SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed innovation consists of a new analytic and computational method for rarefied gas dynamics (RGD). The prevalent computational method for RGD is the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. DSMC becomes computationally intractable in the near-continuum regime, which is a significant limitation on its capability for materials processing applications. The new method is an interpolated fluid/Monte Carlo (IFMC) method that will accelerate DSMC in the near-continuum regime, removing this limitation. The IFMC method is an improvement over existing acceleration methods for RGD in that it is a single uniform method, valid for the full range of Knudsen numbers, with the correct asymptotic behavior in the continuum and near-continuum regimes. This innovation will provide a greatly accelerated and more robust computational tool for simulation of materials processing and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and will be of significant commercial value for the electronics and aerospace industries

This proposal is for development and commercialization of the interpolated fluid/Monte Carlo (IFMC) method for rarefied gas dynamics (RGD). The prevalent computational method for RGD is the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, which becomes computationally intractable in the near-continuum regime. The IFMC method accelerates DSMC in the near-continuum regime, removing this limitation. Technical feasibility of IFMC was demonstrated in Phase I through a set of test computations, and many improvements of the method were made. The work in Phase II will be application of IFMC to aerospace and materials processing problems, and extension of the IFMC software as needed for the applications.

Keywords:
RAREFIED GAS DYNAMICS, MONTE CARLO, HYBRID, DSMC, GAS DYNAMICS, SIMULATION