CFD Characterization of Automotive Inflator-Generated Gas Distribution Process

This thesis outlines the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics to the characterization of the gas distribution process inherent in automotive gas generators. The gas distribution process is important to understand as it greatly influences the overall performance of the device and its competitiveness in the marketplace. Presently, there is limited analysis that has been conducted on the gas generators. The current method involves conducting experiments using prototype hardware and high speed video to capture the flow field. This approach has proven to be useful; however, it lacks the ability to thoroughly study the fluid dynamics. Furthermore, the analysis has to be conducted on actual hardware and lacks the freedom inherent to computer CAD models and CFD where changes can be implemented and studied at a lower cost and in less time.

The thesis details the general background on gas generators, the existing analysis methods, the construction of the CFD model, and a detailed look at the simulation results.