arXiv subjects

Deborah A. Levin

Publications and source records attributed to Deborah A. Levin.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On flow unsteadiness in strongly separated high-speed ramp flows using kinetic and data-driven methods

The gas dynamics of high speed flows over several compression-expansion ramp geometries with large separation regions were investigated using a particle kinetic approach and data driven methods. These large separation regions allow study of the role of scaled angle predicted by triple deck theory on recirculation strength, separation size, and appearance of secondary recirculation regions, all of which lead to flow unsteadiness. Examining four different free stream conditions for the same geometry using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach, we show that the stability of single recirculation in the separation region is more sensitive to wall temperature and free stream velocity than physical ramp angle. Stability in this context refers to appearance of secondary separation regions. In addition, configurations with similar types of recirculation regions from literature considered, we find that general trends regarding unsteadiness, such as appearance of secondary recirculation regions, mostly hold; however, the flows are too complex to be characterized by only scaled angle. Thus, stochastic flowfields generated by DSMC were investigated using data driven methods, namely spectral proper orthogonal decomposition and dynamic mode decomposition. We found that both methods yield similar frequency components and mode shapes for spatio-temporal coherent structures of unsteady DSMC flows. With the help of these structures, the main mechanisms of unsteadiness were identified as oscillations of the reattachment shock, Kelvin-Helmholtz like instability of the shear layer, and c-shaped mode of the separation bubble. This is the first time SPOD has been applied to a DSMC generated flowfield and compared with DMD.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

DSMC Study on Unsteadiness of Supersonic Flow Over a Cylinder

Unsteady flow over a 30 $μ$m diameter cylinder at Mach 4 is investigated using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo across Reynolds numbers from 270 to 6750, spanning slip-flow to near-continuum regimes. Power Spectral Density analysis at discrete probe locations and Dynamic Mode Decomposition of flowfield snapshots independently characterize instabilities in both the stagnation and wake regions. In the stagnation region, a bow shock pulsation mode at 10-15 MHz frequency is identified across all cases despite a 24-fold variation in number density. In the wake, two distinct instabilities are observed. The canonical vortex shedding mode at Strouhal number St $\approx$ 0.2 dominates at lower Reynolds numbers. A second instability at St $\approx$ 0.5, consistent with previously reported slipline-driven oscillations in supersonic wakes, emerges at higher Reynolds numbers and progressively strengthens, becoming the dominant mode. In the studied Reynolds range, the wake transitions from no clear unsteadiness, to canonical vortex shedding at St $\approx$ 0.20, and reaching a regime where the St $\approx$ 0.5 mode becomes dominant, while also having a distinct independent bow shock pulsation possibly governed by its standoff distance.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

A Kinetic Study of the Interactions of an Acoustic Vibrating Surface with Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Instabilities

The response of Mack mode instabilities to a simple acoustic vibrating surface (AVS) is studied using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to capture and analyze spontaneous second-mode instability growth. The DSMC simulations, analyzed with the Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) method, model flow over a flat plate at an unseeded freestream Mach number of 6 and unit Reynolds number $Re_1\sim 1.18\times10^7$ m$^{-1}$. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis was found to identify the dominant frequencies of 200 to 500 kHz, in line with linear stability theory (LST) predictions. Closed-form kinetic-theory expressions were derived to predict the amplitude of the DSMC fluctuations in the window-averaged snapshots. It was observed that the DSMC-simulated flowfield naturally developed second Mack mode instabilities without any external seeding, i.e., arising spontaneously from the kinetic fluctuations of the simulated gas and of amplitude higher than the predicted DSMC fluctuations. Targeted interaction with these flow instabilities is demonstrated for an AVS, where forcing at the unstable frequency of 250 kHz results in amplified waves downstream, while at the stable frequency of 400 kHz AVS-induced disturbances are damped. The AVS thus excites only the waves at its forcing frequency, leaving the instability waves at other frequencies and the mean flow essentially unaltered. The ability of the kinetic simulations to capture and describe linear perturbations at Reynolds numbers corresponding to those of Mach 6 flight at altitudes of $\sim 20$ km suggests that DSMC provides a theoretical understanding of controlling laminar-turbulent transition through AVS materials in hypersonic boundary layers.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

DSMC Study of Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Unsteadiness Using Data-Driven Analysis

The prediction of transition remains challenging because the receptivity amplitude is usually prescribed rather than measured. This work uses Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to study an unforced Mach 6 nitrogen boundary layer over a 120 mm flat plate, with no imposed inlet wave, wall signal, modal shape, or disturbance spectrum. The retained unsteady field is the intrinsic finite-particle stochastic fluctuation field carried by the DSMC representation. Changing the DSMC particle count provides an independent numerical control parameter that sets a predictable finite-particle noise floor while preserving the time-averaged boundary-layer flow. Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) is then applied to unforced DSMC snapshots. The DMD eigenvalues and spatial modes estimate the quantities that appear in the LST normal-mode description, including frequency, temporal growth or decay, wavenumber, wavelength, phase speed, mode location, and amplification envelope. LST is used after extraction to test whether the data-derived structures occupy the expected second-mode band. The results show that DSMC data can connect a measured finite-particle stochastic disturbance level to second-mode instability dynamics without imposed disturbance spectra.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Loss of Axial Symmetry in Hypersonic Flows over Conical Shapes

The assumption of axial symmetry for hypersonic flows over conically shaped geometries is ubiquitous in both experiments and numerical simulations. Yet depending on the free stream conditions, many of these flows are unsteady and their transition from laminar to turbulent is a three-dimensional phenomena. Combining triple deck theory/linear stability analysis with the kinetic direct simulation Monte Carlo method we analyze the azimuthal eigenmodes of flows over single and double-cone configurations. For Mach 16 flows we find that the strongest amplification rate occurs for the non-axisymmetric azimuthal wavenumber of n = 1. This occurs in regions quite close to the tip of the cone due to the proximity of the conical shock to the viscous shear layer where non-axisymmetric modes are amplified through linear mechanisms. Comparison of triple deck linear stability predictions shows that in addition to the azimuthal wavenumber, both the temporal content and amplification rate of these non-axisymmetric disturbances agree well with the time accurate DSMC flowfield. In addition to the loss of axial symmetry observed at the conical shock, the effect of axial symmetry assumptions on the more complex shock-shock and shock-boundary layer interactions of a flow over a double cone are considered. The results for the separation region show that axisymmetric and three dimensional simulations differ in almost all of the main flow structures. Three dimensional flowfields result in a smaller separation bubble with weaker shocks and three dimensional effects were manifest in the variation in surface parameters in the azimuthal direction as well. Interestingly, the DSMC simulations show that the loss of axial symmetry in the separation region, begins near the cone tip.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

On linear stability of supersonic flow over a short compression corner at large ramp angles

Linear stability of supersonic flow over a short compression corner with ramp angles 30 and 42 is investigated using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and Linear Stability Theory (LST) at Mach number 3, Reynolds number 11,200 and low Knudsen number, O(10$^{-4}$). The two-dimensional base flows feature nonzero velocity slip and temperature jump and were found to be steady and laminar at both ramp angles. Modal analysis revealed a previously unknown traveling three-dimensional global mode, the amplitude functions of which peak at the leading-edge and separation shocks and extend within the shear layer of the large laminar separation bubble formed on the short compression corner. This mode is linearly unstable at the higher ramp angle and stable at the lower one, while the known stationary three-dimensional global mode which peaks at the laminar separation is also present in the spectrum, but is (strongly) damped at both ramp angles. Three-dimensional DSMC simulations have fully confirmed the LST results, underlined (again) the significance of modeling the shock contribution in linear stability analyses of high-speed flow, and predicted the nonlinear evolution of the flow up to the generation of lambda vortices on the ramp, for the first time in the context of kinetic theory simulations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Three-Dimensional Kinetic Simulation of an Ion Thruster Plume with Carbon Backsputtering in a Vacuum Chamber

Gridded ion thrusters are tested in ground vacuum chambers to verify their performance when deployed in space. However, the presence of high background pressure and conductive walls in the chamber leads to facility effects that increase uncertainty in the performance of the thruster in space. To address this issue, this study utilizes a fully kinetic simulation to investigate the facility effects on the thruster plume. The in-chamber condition shows a downstream neutral particle density 100 times larger than the in-space case due to ion neutralization at the wall and limited vacuum pump capability, resulting in a significant difference in the density and distribution of charge-exchange ions. The flux, energy, and angle of charge-exchange ions incident on the chamber wall are found to be altered by the electron sheath, which can only be simulated by the fully kinetic approach, as opposed to the conventionally used quasi-neutral Boltzmann approach. We also examine the effect of backsputtering, another important facility effect, and find that it does not necessarily require a fully kinetic simulation as the incident flux and energy of the sampled charge-exchange ion are negligibly small. Finally, we demonstrate that the carbon deposition rate on the thruster is significantly influenced by the angular dependence of the sputtered carbon, with a nearly 50% effect.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Kinetic modeling of three-dimensional electrostatic-solitary and surface waves in beam neutralization

This work studies the fundamental plasma processes involved in the neutralization of an ion beam's space-charge by electrons emitted by a filament using Particle-in-Cell simulations. While filament neutralization is economical, previous experiments have shown that a variety of waves become excited in this process that limit the space-charge neutralization. In this work, the formation and movement of electrostatic solitary waves(ESWs), which have low dissipation rates, are characterized for 2D planar and 3D cylindrical beams and are observed to generate waves that survive for a long time and slow the process of beam neutralization. Further, through a 1D Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) analysis, we find that the non-Maxwellian nature of the beam electrons gives rise to large-sized ESWs that are not predicted by theory which assumes that the electrons may be described by a Maxwellian distribution. Our PIC simulations are sufficiently sensitive to be able to resolve important three-dimensional effects in a 3D cylindrical geometry that lead to the excitation of Trivelpiece-Gould surface waves due to high-energy electrons present at the beginning of neutralization.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Excitation of electrostatic solitary waves and surface waves in ion beam neutralization process

Unusually long electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) are discovered in 2D and 3D Particle-in-Cell studies of the process of ion beam neutralization by electron emission from filaments. These ESWs are long because trapped and untrapped electron density perturbations nearly compensate each other. Surface waves were discovered in the process of neutralization but were only observed in 3D simulations. This is because the phase velocity of surface waves in a 2D geometry is higher than in 3D giving the high-energy electrons generated upstream near the electron source enough energy to excite such waves only in 3D cylindrical beams.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Linear stability analysis of hypersonic boundary layers computed by a kinetic approach: A semi-infinite flat plate at Mach 4.5 and 9

Linear stability analysis is performed using a combination of two-dimensional Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for the computation of the basic state and solution of the pertinent eigenvalue problem, as applied to the canonical boundary layer on a semi-infinite flat plate. Three different gases are monitored, namely nitrogen, argon and air, the latter as a mixture of 79\% Nitrogen and 21\% Oxygen at a range of free-stream Mach numbers corresponding to flight at an altitude of 55km. A neural network has been utilised to predict and smooth the raw DSMC data; the steady laminar profiles obtained are in very good agreement with those computed by (self-similar) boundary layer theory, under isothermal or adiabatic wall conditions, subject to the appropriate slip corrections computed in the DSMC method. The leading eigenmode results pertaining to the unsmoothed DSMC profiles are compared against those of the classic boundary layer theory. Small quantitative, but no significant qualitative differences between the results of the two classes of steady base flows have been found at all parameters examined. The frequencies of the leading eigenmodes at all conditions examined are practically identical, while perturbations corresponding to the DSMC profiles are found to be systematically more damped than their counterparts arising in the boundary layer at the conditions examined, when the correct velocity slip and temperature jump boundary conditions are imposed in the base flow profiles; by contrast, when the classic no-slip boundary conditions are used, less damped/more unstable profiles are obtained, which would lead the flow to earlier transition. On the other hand, the DSMC profiles smoothed by the neural network are marginally more stable than their unsmoothed counterparts.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Kinetic modelling of three-dimensional shock/laminar separation bubble instabilities in hypersonic flows over a double wedge

Linear global instability of the three-dimensional (3-D), spanwise-homogeneous laminar separation bubble (LSB) induced by shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI) in a Mach 7 flow of nitrogen over a $30^{\circ}-55^{\circ}$ double wedge is studied. At these conditions corresponding to a freestream unit Reynolds number, $Re_1=5.2\times 10^{4}$ m$^{-1}$, the flow exhibits rarefaction effects and comparable shock-thicknesses to the size of the boundary-layer at separation. This, in turn, requires the use of the high-fidelity Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to accurately resolve unsteady flow features. We show for the first time that the LSB sustains self-excited, small-amplitude, 3-D perturbations that lead to spanwise-periodic flow structures not only in and downstream of the separated region, as seen in a multitude of experiments and numerical simulations, but also in the internal structure of the separation and detached shock layers. The spanwise-periodicity length and growth rate of the structures in the two zones are found to be identical. It is shown that the linear global instability leads to low-frequency unsteadiness of the triple point formed by the intersection of separation and detached shocks, corresponding to a Strouhal number of $St\sim0.02$. Linear superposition of the spanwise-homogeneous base flow and the leading 3-D flow eigenmode provides further evidence of the strong coupling between linear instability in the LSB and the shock layer.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Linear Instability of Shock-Dominated Laminar Hypersonic Separated Flows

The self-excited spanwise homogeneous perturbations arising in shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction (SWBLI) system formed in a hypersonic flow of molecular nitrogen over a double wedge are investigated using the kinetic Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The flow has transitional Knudsen and unit Reynolds numbers of 3.4 x 10$^{-3}$ and 5.2 x 10$^4$ m$^{-1}$, respectively. Strong thermal nonequilibrium exists downstream of the Mach 7 detached (bow) shock generated due to the upper wedge surface. A linear instability mechanism is expected to make the pre-computed 2-D base flow potentially unstable under spanwise perturbations. The specific intent is to assess the growth rates of unstable modes, the wavelength, location, and origin of spanwise periodic flow structures, and the characteristic frequencies present in this interaction.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Analytical Prediction of Low-Frequency Fluctuations Inside a One-Dimensional Shock

Linear instability of high-speed boundary layers is routinely examined assuming quiescent edge conditions, without reference to the internal structure of shocks or to instabilities potentially generated in them. Our recent work has shown that the kinetically modeled internal nonequilibrium zone of straight shocks away from solid boundaries exhibits low-frequency molecular fluctuations. The presence of the dominant low frequencies observed using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method has been explained as a consequence of the well-known bimodal probability density function (PDF) of the energy of particles inside a shock. Here, PDFs of particle energies are derived in the upstream and downstream equilibrium regions, as well as inside shocks, and it is shown for the first time that they have the form of the non-central chi-squared (NCCS) distributions. A linear correlation is proposed to relate the change in the shape of the analytical PDFs as a function of Mach number, within the range $3 \le M \le 10$, with the DSMC-derived average characteristic low-frequency of shocks, as computed in our earlier work. At a given Mach number $M=7.2$, varying the input translational temperature in the range $89 \le T_{tr,1}/(K) \le 1420$, it is shown that the variation in DSMC-derived low-frequencies is correlated with the change in most-probable-speed inside shocks at the location of maximum bulk velocity gradient. Using the proposed linear functions, average low-frequencies are estimated within the examined ranges of Mach number and input temperature and a semi-empirical relationship is derived to predict low-frequency oscillations in shocks. Our model can be used to provide realistic physics-based boundary conditions in receptivity and linear stability analysis studies of laminar-turbulent transition in high-speed flows.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

A Kinetic Approach to Studying Low-Frequency Molecular Fluctuations in a One-Dimensional Shock

Low-frequency molecular fluctuations in the translational nonequilibrium zone of one-dimensional strong shock waves are characterised for the first time in a kinetic collisional framework in the Mach number range $2\le M\le 10$. Our analysis draws upon the well-known bimodal nature of the probability density function (PDF) of gas particles in the shock, as opposed to their Maxwellian distribution in the freestream, the latter exhibiting an order of magnitude higher dominant frequencies than the former. Inside the (finite-thickness) shock region, the strong correlation between perturbations in the bimodal PDF and fluctuations in the normal stress suggests introducing a novel two-bin model to describe the reduced-order dynamics of a large number of collision interactions of gas particles. Our model correctly predicts the order-of-magnitude difference in fluctuation frequencies in the shock versus those in the freestream and is consistent with the small-amplitude fluctuations obtained from the highly resolved Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) computations of the same configuration. The variation of low-frequency fluctuations with changes in the conditions upstream of the shock revealed that these fluctuations can be described by a Strouhal number, based on the bulk velocity upstream of the shock and the shock-thickness based on the maximum density-gradient inside the shock, that remains practically independent of Mach number in the range examined. Our results are expected to have far-reaching implications for boundary conditions employed in the vicinity of shocks in the framework of flow instability and laminar-turbulent transition studies of flows containing both unsteady and nominally stationary shocks.

physics.flu-dyn↗