The NASA standard tool for thermohydraulic analysis, SINDA/FLUINT, includes thermodynamic and hydrodynamic solutions specifically targeted at the growing demand for design and analysis of liquid propulsion systems. Applications in this field have included:
- Helium pressurization system design
- Cryogenic line chill-down transients
- Regenerative nozzle cooling
- Cryogenic turbomachinery chill-down transients
- Hydrazine line filling
- Feedline transients, including pogo suppression
- Feedline anti-geyser design
- Cryogenic tank pressurization and discharge, including thermal stratification, dissolved pressurant, and capillary liquid acquisition devices
Many organizations have previously used separate in-house tools specialized for each of the above applications. However, these organizations typically do not have the resources nor infrastructure to maintain these codes when cognizant engineers are lost, nor to modify and validate them for new vehicles or applications, nor to train new engineers on their use.
The use of a single general-purpose tool to encompass all such analyses offers not only solutions to the above problems, but also enables integrated analyses and the ability to communicate with vendors and customers.