Computational Fluid and Thermal Analysis of the Titan Montgolfiere

Kevin Chen

June 27, 2008

Through the computational fluid and thermal analysis of the Titan Montgolfiere, we seek to find a balloon design that maximizes the steady-state buoyant force in the Titan atmosphere. Currently I am verifying the output of the immersed boundary computational algorithm by checking its results with past computations done by Daniel Appelö and former SURF student Zhonglin Zhang. I am also updating post-processing code to analyze and visualize temperature, fluid velocity, and buoyant force data. During this time I am also familiarizing myself with modifying the Montgolfiere geometry in the computational code. After the verification is complete, I will begin making changes to the interior (and possibly exterior) of the balloon to minimize heat loss by conduction through the balloon wall. Since simulations show most of the heat loss to occur at the top of the balloon, initial designs will aim to deflect heat away from that region.