Modeling Plume-Surface Interactions for Landing Pads and Untreated Ground

Blueshift, LLC dba Outward Technologies proposes to develop Free Open-Source Software for simulating Plume-Surface Interactions (PSI) relevant to lunar and Martian environments. These software tools will include: 1) a two-way coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) numerical modeling framework for simulating regolith-plume interactions; 2) a grain-based DEM model of regolith ejecta with accurate representation of particle size and shape distributions to predict erosion physics and ejecta dynamics; and 3) a damage calculator for identifying the location and extent of pitting and fracturing caused by ejecta impacting near- and far-field structures. These combined tools will be implemented within a massively parallelized cloud-computing environment to enable high-fidelity PSI models to aid CLPS lander companies and the design of lunar Human Landing Systems. These proposed innovations address current limitations of PSI modeling software by increasing fidelity of the soil mechanics response of ground through utilization of a grain-based DEM regolith model capable of representing a wide range of in situ soil conditions for studies on cratering physics; erosion rates; ejecta trajectories, velocities, and momentums; and energy reductions within the plume flow field due to regolith interactions. Bonding between regolith grains within the DEM further enables study of different landing pad materials and geometries while evaluating the potential for erosion of the underlying regolith and of untreated regolith beyond the landing pad and/or landing pad apron. These new modeling capabilities can be used to de-risk future robotic and manned missions for NASA's Moon-to-Mars campaign and directly address the needs of NASA SBIR Subtopic Z7.04 through validated, robust, and massively parallel numerical models for predicting PSI physics on other planetary bodies across a wide range of possible terrains and ground conditions.

These new modeling capabilities can be used by NASA to de-risk future robotic and manned missions for NASA's Moon-to-Mars campaign. Potential applications include evaluations of different landing vehicles for given terrains and ground conditions; identifying candidate locations for landing pads, berms, and placement of other ground structures at lunar sites of interest to reduce the risk caused by ejecta damage; and evaluation of landing pad and landing pad apron materials for mitigating viscous erosion of ground and high-velocity ejecta.

Non-NASA applications include industrial process and hardware design for systems involving the interaction between superheated fluids and particles such as blast furnaces. Additional applications exist for massively parallelizable DEM-CFD simulations for industrial-scale modeling of systems using DEM where non-spherical particle assumptions are desired.

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