Modeling turbulent mixing layers with multifluid subgrid physics

Many flows are affected by mixing instabilities such as Kelvin-Helmholtz, Richtmyer-Meshkov and Rayleigh-Taylor, arising at the interface of two stratified fluids of different density. In astrophysical plasmas, turbulent mixing layers (TMLs) are important in, for example, supernova remnants, the deceleration of relativistic jets and the surface layers of cold molecular clouds in the interstellar medium. TMLs are also critical to many applications in applied physics and engineering. The Richtmyer-Meshkov instability increases the efficiency of combustion in scramjet engines by enhancing the mixing between fuel and oxidizer. In Inertial Confinement Fusion experiments, mixing of ablative shell fragments with deuterium-tritium fuel can limit thermonuclear fuel compression and ignition. The study of mixing instabilities is thus elementary to understand mixing and de-mixing processes, explain experimental data and, eventually, improve experiment design. The aim of this doctoral project is to develop a general multifluid code including multi- k-ℇ subgrid scale models for studying turbulent phenomena. The project will take the published results and methods from previous work, and develop them based on the expertise at Leeds in multifluid AMR codes and wider application domain.