Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Hydrodynamics codes”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Scale coupling in Richtmyer-Meshkov flows induced by strong shocks

We perform the first systematic study of the nonlinear evolution and scale coupling in Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) flows induced by strong shocks. The smoothed particle hydrodynamics code (SPHC) is employed to ensure accurate shock capturing, interface tracking and accounting for the dissipation processes. We find that in strong-shock-driven RMI the background motion is supersonic. The amplitude of the initial perturbation strongly influences the flow evolution and the interfacial mixing that can be sub-sonic or supersonic. At late times the flow remains laminar rather than turbulent, and RM bubbles flatten and decelerate. In the fluid bulk, reverse cumulative jets appear and 'hot spots' are formed-local heterogeneous microstructures with temperature substantially higher than that in the ambient. Our numerical simulations agree with the zero-order, linear, weakly nonlinear, and highly nonlinear theoretical analyses as well as with the experiments and suggest that the evolution of RMI is a multi-scale and heterogeneous process with a complicated character of scale coupling.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Triggering Collapse of the Presolar Dense Cloud Core and Injecting Short-lived Radioisotopes with a Shock Wave. V. Nonisothermal Collapse Regime

Recent meteoritical analyses support an initial abundance of the short-lived radioisotope (SLRI) {sup 60}Fe that may be high enough to require nucleosynthesis in a core-collapse supernova, followed by rapid incorporation into primitive meteoritical components, rather than a scenario where such isotopes were inherited from a well-mixed region of a giant molecular cloud polluted by a variety of supernovae remnants and massive star winds. This paper continues to explore the former scenario, by calculating three-dimensional, adaptive mesh refinement, hydrodynamical code (FLASH 2.5) models of the self-gravitational, dynamical collapse of a molecular cloud core that has been struck by a thin shock front with a speed of 40 km s{sup −1}, leading to the injection of shock front matter into the collapsing cloud through the formation of Rayleigh–Taylor fingers at the shock–cloud intersection. These models extend the previous work into the nonisothermal collapse regime using a polytropic approximation to represent compressional heating in the optically thick protostar. The models show that the injection efficiencies of shock front materials are enhanced compared to previous models, which were not carried into the nonisothermal regime, and so did not reach such high densities. The new models, combined with the recent estimates of initial {sup 60}Fe abundances, imply that the supernova triggering and injection scenario remains a plausible explanation for the origin of the SLRIs involved in the formation of our solar system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Staged Z-pinch radiation-hydrodynamic simulations on a 20-MA driver

We report on one-dimensional simulations of a staged Z-pinch (SZP) fusion scheme using the radiation-hydrodynamics code HYDRA [Marinak et al., Phys. Plasmas 8, 2275 (2001)]. A pulsed-power driver, based on the Z-machine at Sandia National Laboratories, with a peak current around 20 MA, is used to implode a high-Z gas liner surrounding a cylindrical DT fuel target. For the best conditions used in this work, excluding some physical processes, such as mix, we find a “clean” fusion yield of 7.05 MJ (2.5 ×1018 neutrons), thus showing the potential for high yields using this scheme. The design achieving this yield was determined through a study of different liner materials, liner masses, and fuel masses. We also address previous simulations of the SZP setup that used ad hoc limits of the total internal energy of the liner that can artificially increase fusion yields.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

CONVECTIVE PROPERTIES OF ROTATING TWO-DIMENSIONAL CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA PROGENITORS

We explore the effects of rotation on convective carbon, oxygen, and silicon shell burning during the late stages of evolution in a 20 M {sub ⊙} star. Using the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics we construct one-dimensional (1D) stellar models both with no rotation and with an initial rigid rotation of 50% of critical. At different points during the evolution, we map the 1D models into 2D and follow the multidimensional evolution using the FLASH compressible hydrodynamics code for many convective turnover times until a quasi-steady state is reached. We characterize the strength and scale of convective motions via decomposition of the momentum density into vector spherical harmonics. We find that rotation influences the total power in solenoidal modes, with a slightly larger impact for carbon and oxygen shell burning than for silicon shell burning. Including rotation in 1D stellar evolution models alters the structure of the star in a manner that has a significant impact on the character of multidimensional convection. Adding modest amounts of rotation to a stellar model that ignores rotation during the evolutionary stage, however, has little impact on the character of the resulting convection. Since the spatial scale and strength of convection present at the point of core collapse directly influence the supernova mechanism, our results suggest that rotation could play an important role in setting the stage for massive stellar explosions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Neural Networks for Nuclear Reactions in MAESTROeX

We demonstrate the use of neural networks to accelerate the reaction steps in the MAESTROeX stellar hydrodynamics code. A traditional MAESTROeX simulation uses a stiff ODE integrator for the reactions; here, we employ a ResNet architecture and describe details relating to the architecture, training, and validation of our networks. Our customized approach includes options for the form of the loss functions, a demonstration that the use of parallel neural networks leads to increased accuracy, and a description of a perturbational approach in the training step that robustifies the model. We test our approach on millimeter-scale flames using a single-step, 3-isotope network describing the first stages of carbon fusion occurring in Type Ia supernovae. We train the neural networks using simulation data from a standard MAESTROeX simulation, and show that the resulting model can be effectively applied to different flame configurations. This work lays the groundwork for more complex networks, and iterative time-integration strategies that can leverage the efficiency of the neural networks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SOLAR FLARE CHROMOSPHERIC LINE EMISSION: COMPARISON BETWEEN IBIS HIGH-RESOLUTION OBSERVATIONS AND RADIATIVE HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS

Solar flares involve impulsive energy release, which results in enhanced radiation over a broad spectral range and a wide range of heights. In particular, line emission from the chromosphere can provide critical diagnostics of plasma heating processes. Thus, a direct comparison between high-resolution spectroscopic observations and advanced numerical modeling results could be extremely valuable, but has not yet been attempted. In this paper, we present such a self-consistent investigation of an M3.0 flare observed by the Dunn Solar Telescope’s Interferometric Bi-dimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) on 2011 September 24 which we have modeled using the radiative hydrodynamic code RADYN. We obtained images and spectra of the flaring region with IBIS in Hα 6563 Å and Ca ii 8542 Å, and with RHESSI in X-rays. The latter observations were used to infer the non-thermal electron population, which was passed to RADYN to simulate the atmospheric response to electron collisional heating. We then synthesized spectral lines and compared their shapes and intensities to those observed by IBIS and found a general agreement. In particular, the synthetic Ca ii 8542 Å profile fits well to the observed profile, while the synthetic Hα profile is fainter in the core than for the observation. This indicates that Hα emission is more responsive to the non-thermal electron flux than the Ca ii 8542 Å emission. We suggest that it is necessary to refine the energy input and other processes to resolve this discrepancy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurements and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modeling of mid-Z plasma emission

The x-ray yields from laser-irradiated thin foils of iron, copper, zinc, and germanium have been measured in the soft and multi-keV x-ray ranges at the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The incident laser power had a pre-pulse to enhance the x-ray emission of a 1 ns flat-top main pulse. The experimental results have been compared with post-shot simulations performed with the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics code FCI2. A new non-local thermodynamic equilibrium model, NOO-RAD, have been incorporated into FCI2. In this approach, the plasma ionization state is in-line calculated by the atomic physics NOHEL package. In the soft x-ray bands, both simulations using RADIOM [M. Busquet, Phys. Fluids B 5, 4191 (1993)] and NOO-RAD clearly over-predict the powers and energies measured by a broad-band spectrometer. In one case (the iron foil), the discrepancy between the measured and simulated x-ray output is nevertheless significantly reduced when NOO-RAD is used in the simulations. In the multi-keV x-ray bands, the simulations display a strong sensitivity to the coupling between the electron thermal conductivity and the NLTE models, and for some particular combinations of these, provide a close match to the measured emission. The comparison between the measured and simulated H-like to He-like line-intensity ratios deduced from high-resolution spectra indicates higher experimental electron temperatures were achieved, compared to the simulated ones. Measurements of the plasma conditions have been achieved using the Thomson-scattering diagnostic. The electron temperatures are found to range from 3 to 5 keV at the end of the laser pulse and are greater than predicted by the simulations. The measured flow velocities are in reasonable agreement with the calculated ones. This last finding gives us confidence in our numerical predictions for the plasma parameters, which are over that time mainly determined by hydrodynamics, such as the mass densities and the ion temperatures.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laser wavelength dependence of particle acceleration mechanisms in high intensity laser–solid density plasma interactions

We investigate the generation of relativistic electrons and the subsequent ion acceleration due to target-normal sheath acceleration when ultra-intense (⁠ I > 10 18 W/cm 2 ⁠) short pulse (⁠ τ L < 10ps⁠) lasers are incident onto solid density targets as laser wavelength is varied. Scaling laws for the hot electron temperature, T hot ⁠, and the maximum ion energy, E max ⁠, are recast as a function of laser wavelength. These predictions are compared to results from particle-in-cell computer simulations in a variety of geometries, including cases where realistic plasma density profiles as determined by a radiation hydrodynamics code are used. It is found that the wavelength dependence observed in simulation is less pronounced than what is predicted from the well-established scaling laws. An assessment of how switching to longer laser wavelengths, specifically 2 μm Tm:YLF technology, would impact current high energy density science applications and diagnostics is made.

Electromagnetism↗
DOE OSTI2011

RADIATION-DRIVEN IMPLOSION AND TRIGGERED STAR FORMATION

We present simulations of initially stable isothermal clouds exposed to ionizing radiation from a discrete external source, and identify the conditions that lead to radiatively driven implosion and star formation. We use the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code SEREN and a HEALPix-based photoionization algorithm to simulate the propagation of the ionizing radiation and the resulting dynamical evolution of the cloud. We find that the incident ionizing flux, {Phi}{sub LyC}, is the critical parameter determining the cloud evolution. At moderate fluxes, a large fraction of the cloud mass is converted into stars. As the flux is increased, the fraction of the cloud mass that is converted into stars and the mean masses of the individual stars both decrease. Very high fluxes simply disperse the cloud. Newly formed stars tend to be concentrated along the central axis of the cloud (i.e., the axis pointing in the direction of the incident flux). For given cloud parameters, the time, t{sub *}, at which star formation starts is proportional to {Phi}{sup -1/3}{sub LyC}. The pattern of star formation found in the simulations is similar to that observed in bright-rimmed clouds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The importance of the transmission flux in evaluating the preheat effect in x-ray driven ablation

In x-ray driven ablation, the preheat effect is caused by the high energy x-rays that pass through the ablator. Thus, the transmission flux can be used to characterize preheat effect in a certain degree. With the radiation temperature being 200 eV, the transmission flux and preheat temperature of pure polymer (CH) have been studied by using the one-dimensional multi-group radiation hydrodynamic code MULTI-1D. By studying the spectrum of the transmitted x-rays, it is found that the energy of the transmitted x-rays is in the range of 2–5 keV for pure CH ablator. This is of importance for selecting a dopant for CH ablator. We also calculated both the preheat temperature of CH near the surface of thick target (47.66 μm) and the transmission flux of a thinner target (38.66 μm). It is found that the more transmission flux leads to the higher preheat temperature. Preheat effect of graded Si-doped CH targets with different doped concentrations has also been studied. The results are consistent with this phenomenon. By analyzing the relationship between the transmission flux and the preheat temperature, we have presented a novel method to evaluate preheat effect in x-ray driven ablation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Rotationally induced fragmentation in the prestellar core L1544

Recent observations indicate that there is no correlation between the level of turbulence and fragmentation in detected protostellar cores, suggesting that turbulence works mainly before gravitationally bound prestellar cores form and that their inner parts are likely to be velocity coherent. Based on this evidence, we simulate the collapse and fragmentation of an isolated, initially centrally condensed, uniformly rotating core of total mass M = 5.4 M {sub ☉}, using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code GADGET-2 modified with the inclusion of sink particles, in order to compare the statistical properties of the resulting stellar ensembles with previous gravoturbulent fragmentation models. The initial conditions are intended to fit the observed properties of the prestellar core L1544. We find that for ratios of the rotational to the gravitational energy β ≥ 0.05, a massive disk is formed at the core center from which a central primary condenses after ∼50 kyr. Soon thereafter the disk fragments into secondary protostars, consistent with an intermediate mode of star formation in which groups of 10-100 stars form from a single core. The models predict peak accretion rates between ∼10{sup –5} and 10{sup –4} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} for all stars and reproduce many of the statistical properties predicted from gravoturbulent fragmentation, suggesting that on the small scales of low-mass, dense cores these are independent of whether the contracting gas is turbulent or purely rotating.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE FORMATION OF THE PRIMITIVE STAR SDSS J102915+172927: EFFECT OF THE DUST MASS AND THE GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION

Understanding the formation of the extremely metal-poor star SDSS J102915+172927 is of fundamental importance to improve our knowledge on the transition between the first and second generation of stars in the universe. In this paper, we perform three-dimensional cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of dust-enriched halos during the early stages of the collapse process including a detailed treatment of the dust physics. We employ the astrochemistry package krome coupled with the hydrodynamical code enzo assuming grain-size distributions produced by the explosion of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) of 20 and 35 M {sub ⊙} primordial stars, which are suitable to reproduce the chemical pattern of the SDSS J102915+172927 star. We find that the dust mass yield produced from Population III SNe explosions is the most important factor that drives the thermal evolution and the dynamical properties of the halos. Hence, for the specific distributions relevant in this context, the composition, the dust optical properties, and the size range have only minor effects on the results due to similar cooling functions. We also show that the critical dust mass to enable fragmentation provided by semi-analytical models should be revised, as we obtain values one order of magnitude larger. This determines the transition from disk fragmentation to a more filamentary fragmentation mode, and suggests that likely more than one single SN event or efficient dust growth should be invoked to get such high dust content.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Triggering collapse of the presolar dense cloud core and injecting short-lived radioisotopes with a shock wave. III. Rotating three-dimensional cloud cores

A key test of the supernova triggering and injection hypothesis for the origin of the solar system's short-lived radioisotopes is to reproduce the inferred initial abundances of these isotopes. We present here the most detailed models to date of the shock wave triggering and injection process, where shock waves with varied properties strike fully three-dimensional, rotating, dense cloud cores. The models are calculated with the FLASH adaptive mesh hydrodynamics code. Three different outcomes can result: triggered collapse leading to fragmentation into a multiple protostar system; triggered collapse leading to a single protostar embedded in a protostellar disk; or failure to undergo dynamic collapse. Shock wave material is injected into the collapsing clouds through Rayleigh-Taylor fingers, resulting in initially inhomogeneous distributions in the protostars and protostellar disks. Cloud rotation about an axis aligned with the shock propagation direction does not increase the injection efficiency appreciably, as the shock parameters were chosen to be optimal for injection even in the absence of rotation. For a shock wave from a core-collapse supernova, the dilution factors for supernova material are in the range of ∼10{sup –4} to ∼3 × 10{sup –4}, in agreement with recent laboratory estimates of the required amount of dilution for {sup 60}Fe and {sup 26}Al. We conclude that a type II supernova remains as a promising candidate for synthesizing the solar system's short-lived radioisotopes shortly before their injection into the presolar cloud core by the supernova's remnant shock wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

TYPE I SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE AS EXPLOSIONS INSIDE NON-HYDROGEN CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVELOPES

A number of Type I (hydrogenless) superluminous supernova (SLSN) events have been discovered recently. However, their nature remains debatable. One of the most promising ideas is the shock interaction mechanism, but only simplified semi-analytical models have been applied so far. We simulate light curves for several Type I SLSN (SLSN-I) models enshrouded by dense, non-hydrogen circumstellar (CS) envelopes, using a multi-group radiation hydrodynamics code that predicts not only bolometric, but also multicolor light curves. We demonstrate that the bulk of SLSNe-I including those with relatively narrow light curves like SN 2010gx or broad ones like PTF09cnd can be explained by the interaction of the SN ejecta with the CS envelope, though the range of parameters for these models is rather wide. Moderate explosion energy (∼(2–4) × 10{sup 51} erg) is sufficient to explain both narrow and broad SLSN-I light curves, but ejected mass and envelope mass differ for those two cases. Only 5–10 M {sub ⊙} of non-hydrogen material is needed to reproduce the light curve of SN 2010gx, while the best model for PTF09cnd is very massive: it contains almost 50 M {sub ⊙} in the CS envelope and only 5 M {sub ⊙} in the ejecta. The CS envelope for each case extends from 10 R {sub ⊙} to ∼10{sup 5} R {sub ⊙} (7 × 10{sup 15} cm), which is about an order of magnitude larger than typical photospheric radii of standard SNe near the maximum light. We briefly discuss possible ways to form such unusual envelopes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

CONVERGENCE STUDIES OF MASS TRANSPORT IN DISKS WITH GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITIES. II. THE RADIATIVE COOLING CASE

We conduct a convergence study of a protoplanetary disk subject to gravitational instabilities (GIs) at a time of approximate balance between heating produced by the GIs and radiative cooling governed by realistic dust opacities. We examine cooling times, characterize GI-driven spiral waves and their resultant gravitational torques, and evaluate how accurately mass transport can be represented by an {alpha}-disk formulation. Four simulations, identical except for azimuthal resolution, are conducted with a grid-based three-dimensional hydrodynamics code. There are two regions in which behaviors differ as resolution increases. The inner region, which contains 75% of the disk mass and is optically thick, has long cooling times and is well converged in terms of various measures of structure and mass transport for the three highest resolutions. The longest cooling times coincide with radii where the Toomre Q has its minimum value. Torques are dominated in this region by two- and three-armed spirals. The effective {alpha} arising from gravitational stresses is typically a few Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} and is only roughly consistent with local balance of heating and cooling when time-averaged over many dynamic times and a wide range of radii. On the other hand, the outer disk region, which is mostly optically thin, has relatively short cooling times and does not show convergence as resolution increases. Treatment of unstable disks with optical depths near unity with realistic radiative transport is a difficult numerical problem requiring further study. We discuss possible implications of our results for numerical convergence of fragmentation criteria in disk simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Progress towards a high-gain and robust target design for heavy ion fusion

Recently [E. Henestroza et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 032702 (2011)], a new inertial-fusion target configuration, the X-target, using one-sided axial illumination has been explored. This class of target uses annular and solid-profile heavy ion beams to compress and ignite deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel that fills the interior of metal cases that have side-view cross sections in the shape of an 'X.' X-targets using all-DT-filled metal cases imploded by three annular ion beams resulted in fuel densities of {approx}50 g/cm{sup 3} at peak compression, and fusion gains of {approx}50, comparable to heavy ion driven hohlraum targets [D. A. Callahan-Miller and M. Tabak, Phys. Plasmas 7, 2083 (2000)]. This paper discusses updated X-target configurations that incorporate inside the case a propellant (plastic) and a pusher (aluminum) surrounding the DT fuel. The updated configurations are capable of assembling higher fuel areal densities {approx}2 g/cm{sup 2} using two annular beams to implode the target to peak DT densities {approx}100 g/cm{sup 3}, followed by a fast-ignition solid ion beam which heats the high-density fuel to thermonuclear temperatures in {approx}200 ps to start the burn propagation, obtaining gains of {approx}300. These targets have been modeled using the radiation-hydrodynamics code HYDRA [M. M. Marinak et al., Phys. Plasmas 8, 2275 (2001)] in two- and three- dimensions to study the properties of the implosion as well as the ignition and burn propagation phases. At typical Eulerian mesh resolutions of a few microns, the aluminum-DT interface shows negligible Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer-Meshkov instability growth; also, the shear flow of the DT fuel as it slides along the metal X-target walls, which drives the RT and Kelvin Helmholtz instabilities, does not have a major effect on the burning rate. An analytic estimate of the RT instability process at the Al-DT interface shows that the aluminum spikes generated during the pusher deceleration phase would not reach the ignition zone in time to affect the burning process. Also, preliminary HYDRA calculations, using a higher resolution mesh to study the shear flow of the DT fuel along the X-target walls, indicate that metal-mixed fuel produced near the walls would not be transferred to the DT ignition zone (at maximum {rho}R) located at the vertex of the X-target.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

The 3D flow field around an embedded planet

3D modifications to the well-studied 2D flow topology around an embedded planet have the potential to resolve long-standing problems in planet formation theory. We present a detailed analysis of the 3D isothermal flow field around a 5 Earth-mass planet on a fixed circular orbit, simulated using our graphics processing unit hydrodynamics code PEnGUIn. We find that, overall, the horseshoe region has a columnar structure extending vertically much beyond the Hill sphere of the planet. This columnar structure is only broken for some of the widest horseshoe streamlines, along which high altitude fluid descends rapidly into the planet’s Bondi sphere, performs one horseshoe turn, and exits the Bondi sphere radially in the midplane. A portion of this flow exits the horseshoe region altogether, which we refer to as the “transient” horseshoe flow. The flow continues as it rolls up into a pair of up–down symmetric horizontal vortex lines shed into the wake of the planet. This flow, unique to 3D, affects both planet accretion and migration. It prevents the planet from sustaining a hydrostatic atmosphere due to its intrusion into the Bondi sphere, and leads to a significant corotation torque on the planet, unanticipated by 2D analysis. In the reported simulation, starting with a Σ∼r{sup −3/2} radial surface density profile, this torque is positive and partially cancels with the negative differential Lindblad torque, resulting in a factor of three slower planet migration rate. Finally, we report 3D effects can be suppressed by a sufficiently large disk viscosity, leading to results similar to 2D.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Numerical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds regulated by reprocessed radiation feedback from nascent super star clusters

Radiation feedback from young star clusters embedded in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) is believed to be important to the control of star formation. For the most massive and dense clouds, including those in which super star clusters (SSCs) are born, pressure from reprocessed radiation exerted on dust grains may disperse a significant portion of the cloud mass back into the interstellar medium. Using our radiation hydrodynamics code, Hyperion, we conduct a series of numerical simulations to test this idea. Our models follow the evolution of self-gravitating, strongly turbulent clouds in which collapsing regions are replaced by radiating sink particles representing stellar clusters. We evaluate the dependence of the star formation efficiency (SFE) on the size and mass of the cloud and κ, the opacity of the gas to infrared (IR) radiation. We find that the single most important parameter determining the evolutionary outcome is κ, with κ≳15 cm{sup 2} g{sup −1} needed to disrupt clouds. For κ=20−40 cm{sup 2} g{sup −1}, the resulting SFE = 50%−70% is similar to empirical estimates for some SSC-forming clouds. The opacities required for GMC disruption likely apply only in dust-enriched environments. We find that the subgrid model approach of boosting the direct radiation force L/c by a “trapping factor” equal to a cloud’s mean IR optical depth can overestimate the true radiation force by factors of ∼4−5. We conclude that feedback from reprocessed IR radiation alone is unlikely to significantly reduce star formation within GMCs unless their dust abundances or cluster light-to-mass ratios are enhanced.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗