Abstract

High-speed atmospheric entry simulations are complex problems due to their multi-physics and multi-scale nature. Progress in the ability to accurately model these systems has been hindered by the lack of reliable physical and chemical models for collisional and radiative processes. Furthermore, the predictive capabilities of these models are often established by a simple comparison of the model predictions against results from legacy experimental measurements, the accuracy of which is often not well characterized. Substantial progress in the area of computational chemistry, along with increased computational resources, have allowed for the construction of realistic models based on molecular-scale dynamics. I propose to use state-specific collisional radiative models as a powerful tool to derive macroscopic conservation equations, energy exchange terms and chemical production rates for atmospheric entry plasmas. I will cover the key aspects involved in model development, namely: (1) using abinitio quantum calculations as a powerful tool to construct high- fidelity physics-based models; (2) defining reduced-order models for the simulation of 2D and 3D flows (e.g., coarse-grainmodeling); (3) validating physicalmodels and determining the uncertainty in their predictive capabilities, based on the most recent developments in Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) algorithms (e.g., Bayesian inference).

Bio

Dr. Marco Panesi is currently Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and visiting Research Scientist at NASA Ames. He received hisM.S. degree of Engineering (Aeronautical and Aerospace) in 2003 from the University of Pisa in Italy. In 2009, he received the Ph.D. degree from the von K´arm´an Institute for Fluid Dynamics inBelgiumfor hisworkon “Physicalmodels for non-equilibriumplasma flowsimulations at high speed re-entry conditions”. He completed a post-doc with the PECOS center, one of the five DOE funded PSAAP centers, at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at UT Austin. In 2011 he became Research Associate at The University Texas at Austin. His research activities include the development of high-fidelity models for atmospheric entry plasmas (as a visiting researcher at NASA Ames Research Center) and the application of the Bayesian framework for Uncertainty Quantification, Calibration, and Validation, to chemistry models used in computer simulations of entry vehicles.

Please see the Colloquium Announcement for more details.

An informal coffee & cookie reception will be held prior to the lecture at 2:30 p.m. in

the Hostetler Student Lounge (directly in front of ARMS 3^rd floor  elevators).