Multi-physical electro-magnetic propulsion fluid dynamics : mathematical modelling and computation

Beg, OA

Abstract

The long-standing interest in manned inter-planetary missions has motivated a re-think worldwide in developing better propulsion drives. Many hypothetical systems which did offer some promise in the 1970s and 1980s have been abandoned. A significant re-surge has occurred in electromagnetic propulsion (EMP) systems and a new one in biomimetic systems. The general consensus now is that chemical rocket propulsion simply cannot achieve the tremendous distances involved in manned missions to other planets, to say nothing of inter-stellar travel. In this paper, we review recent progress in three different propulsion systems which may offer significant advantages for more efficient, compact and adaptive astronautical vehicles in the mid-21st century. Swirling nuclear magneto-hydrodynamic propulsion, biomimetic magneto-rheological propulsion and electro-hydrodynamic propulsion systems are explored. The fluid mechanics, heat transfer and electromagnetics of these systems is addressed via nonlinear boundary value problems. These provide a good perspective of the parameters controlling efficiency of propulsion. A diverse range of numerical codes (developed by the first author) are applied to solve these boundary value problems. These include the differential transform method (DTM), numerical integration scheme (NIS) and Chebyschev spectral collocation method (SCM). Other proposed EHD and MHD propulsion systems are also reviewed briefly. Another focus of this chapter is to promote the use of the described numerical methods in future studies of EMP, as a compliment to conventional computational methods such as the finite element method (FEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software e.g., FLUENT (which although capable of complex geometric modelling often neglect important multi-physical flow characteristics).

Citation

Beg, O. (2018). Multi-physical electro-magnetic propulsion fluid dynamics : mathematical modelling and computation. In S. Sparks, & B. Willis (Eds.), Mathematical Modeling : Methods, Applications and Research (2-88). New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers, New York, USA

• Publication Date: Jan 29, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 12, 2018
• Pages: 2-88
• Series Title: Mathematics Research Developments
• Book Title: Mathematical Modeling : Methods, Applications and Research
• ISBN: 9781536131628
• Publisher URL: https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=63962