An essential need of the US Air Force is the discovery, development, and fielding of new, energetic materials for advanced chemical propulsion in space and missile applications. Some of the key factors driving the requirement for new chemical propellants include: (a) improved performance in terms of increased specific impulse and density, (b) reduced sensitivity to external stimuli such as impact, friction, shock, and electrostatic discharge, and (c) mitigation of environmental ...
The focus of this AFOSR project was the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of ionic liquid structure, dynamics, and interfacial properties, as well as multi-scale descriptions of these novel liquids (e.g., to bridge with fluid mechanics methods). The overall importance of ionic liquids, as well as the challenges for the future in this area, are clearly high priorities for the Air Force advanced propulsion program. During the course of this funding, ...
A computer algorithm was designed to simulate the ablation of polymer surfaces by ultraviolet laser radiation. This method is based on a synthesis of a semiclassical "surface hopping" technique and the dressed state picture of radiation-matter interactions. The intrinsically quantum mechanical process of ultraviolet photon absorption can be simulated while classical molecular dynamics techniques are simultaneously emplyed to integrate the equations of motion for the nuclear positions and momenta of ...
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