Hydrodynamic description of an unmagnetized plasma with multiple ion species. I. General formulation
- Computational Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
A generalization of the Braginskii ion fluid description [S. I. Braginskii, Sov. Phys. - JETP 6, 358 (1958)] to the case of an unmagnetized collisional plasma with multiple ion species is presented. An asymptotic expansion in the ion Knudsen number is used to derive the individual ion species continuity, as well as the total ion mass density, momentum, and energy evolution equations accurate through the second order. Expressions for the individual ion species drift velocities with respect to the center of mass reference frame, as well as for the total ion heat flux and viscosity, which are required to close the fluid equations, are evaluated in terms of the first-order corrections to the lowest order Maxwellian ion velocity distribution functions. A variational formulation for evaluating such corrections and its relation to the plasma entropy are presented. Employing trial functions for the corrections, written in terms of expansions in generalized Laguerre polynomials, and maximizing the resulting functionals produce two systems of linear equations (for “vector” and “tensor” portions of the corrections) for the expansion coefficients. A general matrix formulation of the linear systems as well as expressions for the resulting transport fluxes are presented in forms convenient for numerical implementation. The general formulation is employed in Paper II [A. N. Simakov and K. Molvig, Phys. Plasmas 23, 032116 (2016)] to evaluate the individual ion drift velocities and the total ion heat flux and viscosity for specific cases of two and three ion species plasmas.
- OSTI ID:
- 22599021
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Hydrodynamic description of an unmagnetized plasma with multiple ion species. II. Two and three ion species plasmas
Hydrodynamic description of an unmagnetized plasma with multiple ion species. II. Two and three ion species plasmas
Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CENTER-OF-MASS SYSTEM
COLLISIONAL PLASMA
CORRECTIONS
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
ENTROPY
FLUIDS
FUNCTIONALS
HEAT
HEAT FLUX
ION DRIFT
IONS
KNUDSEN FLOW
LAGUERRE POLYNOMIALS
MASS
VARIATIONAL METHODS
VECTORS
VELOCITY
VISCOSITY