New approach in direct-simulation of gas mixtures

Results are reported for an investigation of a new direct-simulation Monte Carlo method by which energy transfer and chemical reactions are calculated. The new method, which reduces to the variable cross-section hard sphere model as a special case, allows different viscosity-temperature exponents for each species in a gas mixture when combined with a modified Larsen-Borgnakke phenomenological model. This removes the most serious limitation of the usefulness of the model for engineering simulations. The necessary kinetic theory for the application of the new method to mixtures of monatomic or polyatomic gases is presented, including gas mixtures involving chemical reactions. Calculations are made for the relaxation of a diatomic gas mixture, a plane shock wave in a gas mixture, and a chemically reacting gas flow along the stagnation streamline in front of a hypersonic vehicle. Calculated results show that the introduction of different molecular interactions for each species in a gas mixture produces significant differences in comparison with a common molecular interaction for all species in the mixture. This effect should not be neglected for accurate DSMC simulations in an engineering context.