Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar

We present some recent results using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach for modeling jets of gas and particulates into the near-vacuum of space. Jupiter's moon Io has active hot sulfur dioxide volcanoes producing huge collisional plumes characterized by complicated shock wave interactions and deposition patterns on the surface. Saturn's moon Enceladus has cold water vapor and particulate plumes emanating from its southern regions perhaps indicative of a subsurface liquid water reservoir. In both situations, one must model the coupling and uncoupling of the gas flow from the motion of the particles and must account for the non-equilibrium nature of the gas flow itself in order to understand the observations of the phenomena.