Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
individual
What campus are you from?
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Priyanshu Savaliya, Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Priyanshu Savaliya
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Sathya Gangadharan
Abstract
The management of liquid propellant in microgravity remains one of the longest-standing issues in spacecraft design. Traditional passive damping techniques using baffles or diaphragms tend to add structural mass and complexity. The current study proposes a novel active slosh damping device which dynamically adjusts the rheology of the damper fluid using electromagnets, simulated in ANSYS Fluent, to actively manage and dampen slosh in an oscillatory excited cylindrical propellant tank. The electromagnetic fields are modulated through a User-Defined Function (UDF) that responds to force feedback simulated in real time via virtual load cells. In Fluent, the interface dynamics of xenon, fuel, and ferrofluid are simulated by a multiphase Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. k-ω SST turbulence model is used to well resolve high-shear regions, and adaptive time stepping guarantees numerical stability of solution because of large element size. Specified gravity profiles and magnetic body forces are added through Fluent's UDF interface, and residual plots are monitored to ensure continuity and momentum equation convergence. While some asymptotic behavior in scaled residuals exists, satisfactory temporal evolution of free surface motions and vortex development is illustrated in the simulation. This research pushes the control of propellant slosh with the demonstration of an actively controllable, software-implemented damping mechanism using only electromagnetic actuation. Future work will include the contrast results between Ansys Fluent, Star CCM+ simulations and experimental testing and also investigate more of the design space by varying several coil geometries, ferrofluid viscosities, and control methods, and future experimental validation with physical testbeds. The benefits to microgravity logistics, long-term fuel storage, and responsive spacecraft operations are considerable.
Did this research project receive funding support from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
No
Included in
Computational Study of Slosh Dynamics and Active Slosh Damping in Spacecraft Propellant Tanks Equipped with a Magneto Active Propellant Management Device
The management of liquid propellant in microgravity remains one of the longest-standing issues in spacecraft design. Traditional passive damping techniques using baffles or diaphragms tend to add structural mass and complexity. The current study proposes a novel active slosh damping device which dynamically adjusts the rheology of the damper fluid using electromagnets, simulated in ANSYS Fluent, to actively manage and dampen slosh in an oscillatory excited cylindrical propellant tank. The electromagnetic fields are modulated through a User-Defined Function (UDF) that responds to force feedback simulated in real time via virtual load cells. In Fluent, the interface dynamics of xenon, fuel, and ferrofluid are simulated by a multiphase Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. k-ω SST turbulence model is used to well resolve high-shear regions, and adaptive time stepping guarantees numerical stability of solution because of large element size. Specified gravity profiles and magnetic body forces are added through Fluent's UDF interface, and residual plots are monitored to ensure continuity and momentum equation convergence. While some asymptotic behavior in scaled residuals exists, satisfactory temporal evolution of free surface motions and vortex development is illustrated in the simulation. This research pushes the control of propellant slosh with the demonstration of an actively controllable, software-implemented damping mechanism using only electromagnetic actuation. Future work will include the contrast results between Ansys Fluent, Star CCM+ simulations and experimental testing and also investigate more of the design space by varying several coil geometries, ferrofluid viscosities, and control methods, and future experimental validation with physical testbeds. The benefits to microgravity logistics, long-term fuel storage, and responsive spacecraft operations are considerable.