A Spectrally Accurate Two-Dimensional Axisymmetric, Tightly Coupled Photon Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer Equation Solver for Hypersonic Entry Flows

Abstract

A two-dimensional axisymmetric ray tracing photon Monte Carlo radiative transfer solver is developed. Like all ray tracing Monte Carlo codes, the ray tracing is performed in 3D, however, arrangements are made to take advantage of the 2D nature of the problem, to minimize computational time. The solver is designed to be tightly integrated into finite volume hypersonic flow solvers and is able to resolve the complex spectral properties of such flows to line-by-line (LBL) accuracy. The solver is then directly integrated into data parallel line relaxation (DPLR), a hypersonic flow solver, and closely coupled calculations are performed.