Lytec LLC proposes to integrate the simulation technology of the MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) community into the worlds leading propulsion and aerodynamic flow solver WIND. The WIND code has been chosen because of its general acceptance in the aerospace community as a first class flow simulation tool. The ultimate goal is to provide an integrated magnetogasdynamic solver that will advance the state of the art in the prediction of flowfield simulations for electrically conductive fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields. In Phase I, Lytec will incorporate several modifications into the WIND flow solver to allow prediction of magnetogasdynamic flows where the temperature of the electrons and the bulk gas are equal. Namely: 1) addition of the magnetic force term and ohmic heating term to the momentum and energy equations; 2) Implement Ohms Law for calculation of the induced electric field; 3) Implement calculation of the current density given the magnetic field; 4) Add the magnetic specific energy to the total specific energy; 5) Add a calculation of the plasma conductivity; and, 6) Upgrade the Pre and Post processing tools (GMAN and CFPOST) for display and input of the electric and magnetic fields.
Potential Commercial Applications:There has been a recent interest in magnetogasdynamics due to the potential breakthrough nature of this technology with regard to reduced heating loads and propulsion innovations on hypersonic aircraft, and significant drag reduction at all flight speeds. The accurate simulation of these flowfields is paramount to the design and ultimate realization of dozens of advanced military aircraft, access to space vehicles, and commercial high speed transports. If these potential benefits can be shown to be feasible by advanced simulation techniques such as proposed, the commercialization onto existing aircraft or the development new aircraft employing this technology would be very high. Small reductions in drag translate into huge savings in fuel and increased payload for commercial vehicles and would be well received by airframe developers.
