航天器贮箱气液自由界面追踪数值模拟

主要讨论了航天器贮箱在轨道航行时的微重力状态下其液体推进剂在贮箱内的形态分布及控制.文中采用VOF方法,加入了表面张力的效应,追踪气液两相流的自由界面,对液面在微重力条件下的位形变化进行了数值模拟.通过比较不同重力加速度及接触角下的两相流的相图,分析了影响贮箱中液体推进剂位形变化的主要因素及对其有效的控制方法.

Numerical Simulation of Liquid-Vapor Interface Tracking in Tank of Spacecraft

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the transport processes of propellant in tank of spacecraft in different gravity. The motion of the liquid-vapor interface of propellant in the tank of on-orbit spacecraft is investigated numerically by solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations using the VOF method coupled with the surface tension effect under micro-gravity environment. The objectives of this study are to examine the robust method of controlling the interface transformation of the two phase flow by comparing and analyzing the effects of gravity and contact angle as the typical parameters. Results show that, the gravity effect plays a dominant role in determining the shape of gas-liquid interface and the relative location of the gas-liquid phase in the tank at large Bond number; when the Bond number is small enough, the wettability effect exert a great influence.