UROP Project
subscale modeling for sloshing and pressurization in a cryogenic fuel tank
fluid mechanics, liquid hydrogen, NASA experiments
Research Mentor: Mark Sussman,
Department, College, Affiliation: mathematics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: msussman@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:
Department, College, Affiliation: mathematics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: msussman@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:
Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7.5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7.5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable
Project Description
Heat is the enemy when operating a fuel tank containing liquid hydrogen. If not properly controlled, a fuel tank can pressurize and even explode due to evaporation (or boiling!). An additional bogeyman is that in microgravity, it can become unpredictable as to where the fuel is in the tank! In order to attempt to combat these problems, one must design a tank with appropriate placement of input nozzles (recooled fuel), liquid acquisition device (remove heated fuel), and baffles. Numerical simulations of the dynamics of the liquid hydrogen take an impractical long time if sub-scale models are not incorporated. This is a multiscale problem in which evaporation occurs on a time scale longer than the scale associated with sloshing dynamics. Because the tank size is on the scale of meters, the Reynolds' number is very large, which in turn influences the representative scales associated with heat convection. In this project, the UROP student will explore possible "fake parameter" solutions so that simulations can be run on a coarse mesh, but still have reasonable agreement with experiments.Research Tasks: literature review (previous models?), data collection (i.e. simulations on coarse grids), data analysis
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Calculus I recommended
Physics I recommended
computer programming ability recommended