The mission of the Aerospace Propulsion and Reacting Flows (PAFR) unit is to provide the development of the national and international research and service programs, through the capabilities, the competencies and the experimental test facilities. These programs will allow to increase the national competitiveness in the design of efficient propulsion systems, and in the development of innovative concepts and design methodologies for new generation engines. Moreover, the unit provides support to the aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic design of space transportation systems.
The Aerospace Propulsion and Reacting Flows (PAFR) technical-scientific unit is organized into two laboratories; one devoted to the development of new physical models and their implementation and validation, the AeroThermodynamics and Combustion (ATCO) laboratory; the other one oriented towards design methodologies, applications and experimental tests, the Experimentations and Applications (SPAP) laboratory.
The activities of the PAFR unit can be grouped under three main areas:
Aerothermodynamics
In the last twenty years, the unit has consolidated a firm and durable competency in the aerothermodynamics. In particular, the unit is able to provide support to the design of the space transportation systems (capsules, re-entry vehicles, launchers, etc.) in terms of: aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic databases generation, based on experimental measurements, CFD results and their integration; analysis of severe phenomenologies occurring in the flow field surrounding space vehicles which may determine thermal and mechanical loads harmful for the control and the structural integrity; design of test experiments directed towards the qualification and verification of scaled vehicle models and/or their single components, assuring the perfect matching of the flight conditions with the wind tunnel conditions (extrapolation to-and from-flight). Furthermore, in the last years, the unit has acquired a competency in the design, development and qualification of flight experiments to be mounted on board of a ballistic capsule (EXPERT program) as well as on a winged re-entry vehicle (USV program).
Propulsion
The unit is setting up competencies for the design of innovative and efficient aerospace propulsion systems; moreover, the unit is consolidating the development of methodologies for the study of such systems. Starting from these competencies, the unit will define and coordinate the CIRA research activities on the aerospace propulsion, using both experimental test facilities (HYPROB) and theoretical-numerical tools. The unit is currently involved in the design and analysis of rocket combustion chambers and nozzles, as well as in the study of new generation propulsion systems such as the ramjets and the scramjets. Short-term objectives of the unit are to extend the competencies in the magneto fluid dynamics (MFD) and to identify some methodologies for emission reduction for both aeronautical and space systems.
Reacting Flows and Combustion
In order to support the applications described above, the unit is involved in the development and validation of numerical fluid dynamics solver suitable for the simulation of a generic mixture of non-ideal reacting gases. One typical application is the analysis of space vehicles and capsules moving at hypersonic velocity inside the atmosphere of the earth and of other planets.
Moreover, the unit is involved in the development of numerical code for combustion simulations inside liquid rocket engine (LOx/HC) as well as inside air-breathing system (scramjets, ramjets). Combustion is a phenomenon in which a lot of intermediate species are involved and the chemical kinetic schemes may include a large number of reaction steps. The use of a detailed kinetic scheme is mandatory for the correct description of the combustion phenomena, but it is too expensive from a computational point of view. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and to develop reduced kinetic schemes (involving only the major species) which can be used to reproduce the phenomena in a limited range of temperature and pressure near the nominal working point.
Contact
Dr. Ing. Salvatore Borrelli
e-mail s.borrelli@cira.it
Tel: +39 0823 623311
Fax: +39 0823 623700