Date of Award
Spring 2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Somesh, Roy P.
Second Advisor
Singer, Simcha
Third Advisor
Moore, John
Abstract
High-fidelity combustion simulations necessitate the accurate and efficient calculation of radiative heat transfer. A successful radiation calculation requires the use of a spectral model, which describes the variation of radiative properties across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and a radiative transfer equation (RTE) solver, which solves the governing equation for radiation transport. Three primary categories of RTE solvers are the discrete ordinates method (DOM), the spherical harmonics method (SHM), and the photon Monte Carlo (PMC) method. The accuracy and computational cost of each type of RTE solver is compared in detail in this work. The PMC RTE solver is considered the most accurate and rightly handles irregular geometries and highly nonhomogenous participating media. A deeper analysis of the computational load distribution of the PMC solver is conducted. Relations between the global computational load for PMC and local variables like temperature, Planck-mean absorption coefficient, and cell volume are investigated.