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NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division World-class modeling, simulation, and supercomputing in support of the NASA mission

Physics-Based Fragment Acceleration Modeling for Pressurized Tank Burst Risk Assessments

AMS Seminar Series

Speaker: Ted Manning, Applied Modeling & Simulation Branch, NASA Ames Research Center

Presentation

Abstract

As part of comprehensive efforts to develop physics-based risk assessment techniques for space systems at NASA, coupled computational fluid and rigid body dynamic simulations were carried out to investigate the flow mechanisms that accelerate tank fragments in bursting pressurized vessels. Simulations of several configurations were compared to analyses based on the industry-standard Baker explosion model, and were used to formulate an improved version of the model. The standard model, which neglects an external fluid, was found to agree best with simulation results only in configurations where the internal-to-external pressure ratio is very high and fragment curvature is small. The improved model introduces terms that accommodate an external fluid and better account for variations based on circumferential fragment count. Physics-based analysis was critical in increasing the model’s range of applicability. The improved tank burst model can be used to produce more accurate risk assessments of space vehicle failure modes that involve high-speed debris, such as exploding propellant tanks and bursting rocket engines.

Biography

Ted Manning is an Aerospace Engineer in the Applied Modeling & Simulation Branch of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division at NASA Ames Research Center. He has worked in the fields of experimental and computational mechanics, specializing in aero-acoustics research, engineering analysis tool development, and engineering risk assessment. Ted began his work in NASA’s human exploration initiatives and later joined the Engineering Risk Assessment Team to support space vehicle risk analysis. He has participated or directed risk assessments for the Constellation, Space Launch System, and Commercial Crew programs. Ted received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Stanford University, all in Aeronautics and Astronautics.