Seminar: Coupled mesoscale gas-material interactions in hypersonic flows - Aug. 29
Savio Poovathingal
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Kentucky
Friday, Aug. 29 | 10:40 A.M. | AERO 111
Abstract: At hypersonic speeds, vehicles experience extreme heating that drives ablation of thermal protection systems, where protective materials erode, releasing gases and particulates into the flow. At the mesoscale, this gas–material coupling is poorly understood, yet it governs how surface recession, particle ejection, and outgassing alter both the material response and the surrounding aerothermodynamics.Ìý
In this talk, I will discuss the development of an interface coupling method to couple disparate methods that investigate mesoscale physics. The coupling method, referred to as the marching windows method has two components: a modified marching cube algorithm and a flux mapping algorithm. The modified marching cube algorithm ensures clean surface generation, and the flux mapping algorithm enables consistent mapping of surface fluxes from the fluid solver to three-dimensional material points inside a solid and the transfer of boundary information from the solid back to the surface. As the material evolves through physical processes such as ablation or formation of cracks, the marching windows method tracks the evolution enabling physical simulations of complex processes. The coupled framework is used to perform detailed simulations of ablating microstructures, and these detailed simulations are then used to develop usable engineering models where multi-scale, multi-physics effects are important, such as those seen in hypersonic systems.Ìý
Bio: Dr. Poovathingal is an Associate Professor and the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Scholar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Poovathingal received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Poovathingal specializes in developing computational tools to solve multi-scale problems in gas-material interactions pertaining to hypersonic flows.Ìý
During his career, he has developed numerical approaches for the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) technique and large-scale molecular dynamics calculations. He is also an expert in analysis of experiments to develop physics-based models for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and other continuum methods. His current interest lies in investigating the coupling of the mesoscale material architecture and aerothermodynamics.Ìý
His recent work includes the development of novel simulation capabilities to study momentum and radiative energy transport within thermal protection systems, and the use of x-ray computed microtomography to capture realistic microstructures. He advises 11 Ph.D. and 5 M.S. students, and 1 post-doctoral scholar.Ìý
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