Particle Rotation Effects in Rarefied Two-Phase Plume Flows

We evaluate the effects of solid particle rotation in high-altitude solid rocket exhaust plume flows, through the development and application of methods for the simulation of two phase flows involving small rotating particles and a nonequilibrium gas. Green’s functions are derived for the force, moment, and heat transfer rate to a rotating solid sphere within a locally free-molecular gas, and integration over a Maxwellian gas velocity distribution is used to determine the influence of particle rotation on the heat transfer rate at the equilibrium limit. The use of these Green’s functions for the determination of particle phase properties through the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method is discussed, and a procedure is outlined for the stochastic modeling of interphase collisions. As a test case, we consider the nearfield plume flow for a Star-27 solid rocket motor exhausting into a vacuum, and vary particle angular velocities at the nozzle exit plane in order to evaluate the influence of particle rotation on various flow properties. Simulation results show that rotation may lead to slightly higher particle temperatures near the central axis, but for the case considered the effects of particle rotation are generally found to be negligible.