| The motion of a gas may be studied from the microscopic or macroscopic point of view. At the microscopic level, molecules are constantly moving and colliding, and occasionally reacting to form new species. The accepted model for describing gases at the microscopic level is the Boltzmann equation. In contrast, macroscopic models rely on the conservation laws, combined with constitutive relations, which approximate the molecular relaxation in a gas. The resulting set of equations, called the Navier-Stokes equations, represent an approximation to the Boltzmann equation for small non-equilibrium.; For flows that are sufficiently rarefied, the Navier-Stokes equations no longer represent an accurate approximation of the Boltzmann equation. Numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation may be obtained through the direct simulation of molecular motion. Such approaches are termed Monte Carlo, or particle methods. In principle, particle methods can be used to simulate all flows, regardless of the degree of non-equilibrium.; There are many instances where neither approach is ideal. One such example is the reentry of a blunt body through the atmosphere. Ahead of the body, there is a very strong shock wave that cannot be adequately modeled by the Navier-Stokes equations, due to the degree of non-equilibrium. At the surface of the blunt body, the temperature is substantially colder than the surrounding flow, resulting in a large increase in the density next to the surface. In this region, where the flow is near-continuum, particle methods are not computationally efficient.; A numerical method that utilizes the Navier-Stokes equations in regions of near-continuum flow and a particle method everywhere else is ideal. In this study, a hybrid scheme, for the efficient numerical simulation of flows with thermal and chemical non-equilibrium, is successfully demonstrated. The hybrid method was applied to extreme, high Mach number flows, where vibrational and chemical relaxation are important, in order to fully test the practical bounds of applicability for both the Navier-Stokes equations and the particle method. |
