Numerical modeling of power generation from high-speed flows. I. Development of a nonequilibrium magnetohydrodynamics code

Abstract

The time-dependent, 2[1/2]-dimensional, axisymmetric, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) solver, MACH2 has been upgraded to include the effects of nonequilibrium air chemistry in order to properly model weakly ionized flows over high-speed vehicles. The thermochemical model was subjected to several validation cases such as comparisons to the experimentally deduced shock stand-off distance of nitrogen flow over spheres, the shock stand-off distance of spheres fired into air in a ballistic test facility, and the electron number density on the surface of the Ram-C re-entry experiment. Furthermore, the magnetic induction equation has been upgraded with new verified models that compute the Hall effect, ion slip terms, and an applied axial electric field. Finally, simulations of an idealized MHD electrical power generator are compared with existing analytic solutions, demonstrating the applicability of the improved numerical code to model, analyze and design MHD power generators onboard high-speed vehicles.