SOMAFOAM: An OpenFOAM based solver for continuum simulations of low-temperature plasmas

Verma, Abhishek Kumar; Venkattraman, Ayyaswamy

doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2021.107855

SOMAFOAM: An OpenFOAM based solver for continuum simulations of low-temperature plasmas

Journal Article · Tue Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Computer Physics Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2021.107855· OSTI ID:1852789

^[1]; ^[2]

Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States)

Here, we report the development of SOMAFOAM, a finite volume framework for performing continuum simulations of low-temperature plasmas. The primary goal of this work is to discuss the features of SOMAFOAM along with representative results provided as examples for a range of operating conditions and geometries. This includes plasma and plasma–dielectric systems operating in direct current, radio frequency, and microwave regimes from pressures as low as 100 mTorr to atmospheric pressure. The code has several useful features including the ability to run massively parallel simulations using arbitrary geometries, structured/unstructured meshes, choice of models such as drift–diffusion/full-momentum at runtime, and species-dependent timesteps to name a few. The verification/validation studies presented include comparison with previously published continuum simulations (low-pressure direct current and radio frequency plasma), with experiments (Gaseous Electronics Conference Reference Cell and microwave microplasma ignited in a split ring resonator), and previously published kinetic simulations (low-pressure radio frequency plasma). Other examples provided include a direct current atmospheric pressure microplasma bounded by dielectric sidewalls and a helium–nitrogen plasma ignited using a needle electrode facing a dielectric. The performance of the code is also discussed with serial and distributed memory parallel runs demonstrated up to 512 cores. The design and implementation of the code in a modular object-oriented framework allows for easy extension and seamless coupling with other codes and can be expected to play an important role in both academia and industry.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Applied Materials; Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019044

OSTI ID:: 1852789

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1775686

Journal Information:: Computer Physics Communications, Journal Name: Computer Physics Communications Journal Issue: C Vol. 263; ISSN 0010-4655

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (45)

Gmsh: A 3-D finite element mesh generator with built-in pre- and post-processing facilities Geuzaine, Christophe; Remacle, Jean-François International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 79, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.2579	journal	September 2009
A Conservative Finite Difference Method for the Numerical Solution of Plasma Fluid Equations Colella, Phillip; Dorr, Milo R.; Wake, Daniel D. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 149, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1006/jcph.1998.6136	journal	February 1999
Numerical Solution of Plasma Fluid Equations Using Locally Refined Grids Colella, Phillip; Dorr, Milo R.; Wake, Daniel D. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 152, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1006/jcph.1999.6245	journal	July 1999
Transport properties of gaseous ions over a wide energy range Ellis, H. W.; Pai, R. Y.; McDaniel, E. W. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-640X(76)90001-2	journal	March 1976
Discretization of the Joule heating term for plasma discharge fluid models in unstructured meshes Deconinck, T.; Mahadevan, S.; Raja, L. L. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 228, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2009.03.010	journal	July 2009
An axisymmetric unstructured finite volume method applied to the numerical modeling of an atmospheric pressure gas discharge Zakari, M.; Caquineau, H.; Hotmar, P. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 281 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2014.10.031	journal	January 2015
A moving mesh interface tracking method for simulation of liquid–liquid systems Charin, A. H. L. M.; Tuković, Ž.; Jasak, H. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 334 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2017.01.011	journal	April 2017
Metamaterials for Remote Generation of Spatially Controllable Two Dimensional Array of Microplasma Singh, Pramod K.; Hopwood, Jeffrey; Sonkusale, Sameer Scientific Reports, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep05964	journal	August 2014
Spatial variations in the charge density of argon discharges in the Gaseous Electronics Conference reference reactor Overzet, Lawrence J.; Hopkins, Michael B. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 63, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.110456	journal	November 1993
The Gaseous Electronics Conference radio‐frequency reference cell: A defined parallel‐plate radio‐frequency system for experimental and theoretical studies of plasma‐processing discharges Hargis, P. J.; Greenberg, K. E.; Miller, P. A. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 65, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1144770	journal	January 1994
A tensorial approach to computational continuum mechanics using object-oriented techniques Weller, H. G.; Tabor, G.; Jasak, H. Computers in Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.168744	journal	January 1998
Fluid modeling of electron heating in low-pressure, high-frequency capacitively coupled plasma discharges Chen, Guangye; Raja, Laxminarayan L. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 96, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1818354	journal	December 2004
Numerical description of discharge characteristics of the plasma needle Brok, W. J. M.; Bowden, M. D.; van Dijk, J. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 98, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1944218	journal	July 2005
The dominant role of impurities in the composition of high pressure noble gas plasmas Martens, T.; Bogaerts, A.; Brok, W. J. M. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2839613	journal	January 2008
Comparison of electron‐density measurements made using a Langmuir probe and microwave interferometer in the Gaseous Electronics Conference reference reactor Overzet, Lawrence J.; Hopkins, Michael B. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 74, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.354397	journal	October 1993
Simulation benchmarks for low-pressure plasmas: Capacitive discharges Turner, M. M.; Derzsi, A.; Donkó, Z. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4775084	journal	January 2013
Electron confinement and heating in microwave-sustained argon microplasmas Hoskinson, Alan R.; Gregório, José; Parsons, Stephen Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919416	journal	April 2015
Superficial treatment of mammalian cells using plasma needle Stoffels, E.; Kieft, I. E.; Sladek, R. E. J. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 36, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/36/23/007	journal	November 2003
Analysis of the excited argon atoms in the GEC RF reference cell by means of one-dimensional PIC simulations Lauro-Taroni, L.; Turner, M. M.; Braithwaite, N. StJ Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 37, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/37/16/002	journal	July 2004
Modelling of microdischarge devices: plasma and gas dynamics Kushner, Mark J. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 38, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/38/11/001	journal	May 2005
Deactivation of Escherichia coli by the plasma needle Sladek, R. E. J.; Stoffels, E. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 38, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/38/11/012	journal	May 2005
Particle and fluid simulations of low-temperature plasma discharges: benchmarks and kinetic effects Kim, H. C.; Iza, F.; Yang, S. S. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 38, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/38/19/R01	journal	September 2005
Finite element analysis of an atmospheric pressure RF-excited plasma needle Sakiyama, Y.; Graves, D. B. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 39, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/39/16/S01	journal	August 2006
Influence of electrical properties of treated surface on RF-excited plasma needle at atmospheric pressure Sakiyama, Y.; Graves, D. B.; Stoffels, E. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 41, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/41/9/095204	journal	April 2008
Hybrid modelling of low temperature plasmas for fundamental investigations and equipment design Kushner, Mark J. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/42/19/194013	journal	September 2009
Fully coupled simulation of the plasma liquid interface and interfacial coefficient effects Lindsay, Alexander D.; Graves, David B.; Shannon, Steven C. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 49, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/49/23/235204	journal	May 2016
Measurement of electron energy distribution in low-pressure RF discharges Godyak, V. A.; Piejak, R. B.; Alexandrovich, B. M. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-0252/1/1/006	journal	March 1992
Solving the Boltzmann equation to obtain electron transport coefficients and rate coefficients for fluid models Hagelaar, G. J. M.; Pitchford, L. C. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 14, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-0252/14/4/011	journal	October 2005
Self-consistent modelling of atmospheric micro-plasmas produced by a microwave source Gregório, J.; Leprince, P.; Boisse-Laporte, C. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 21, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-0252/21/1/015013	journal	February 2012
Benchmark continuum and kinetic simulations of argon microplasmas in the direct current and microwave regimes Verma, Abhishek Kumar; Alamatsaz, Arghavan; Venkattraman, Ayyaswamy Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 50, Issue 42 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aa87ac	journal	September 2017
Dielectric barrier discharges: progress on plasma sources and on the understanding of regimes and single filaments Brandenburg, Ronny Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/aa6426	journal	March 2017
Two-dimensional model of a capacitively coupled rf discharge and comparisons with experiments in the Gaseous Electronics Conference reference reactor Boeuf, J. P.; Pitchford, L. C. Physical Review E, Vol. 51, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.51.1376	journal	February 1995
Mobility of He^{+}, Ne^{+}, Ar^{+}, N_{2}^{+}, O_{2}^{+}, and CO_{2}^{+} in their parent gas Basurto, E.; de Urquijo, J.; Alvarez, I. Physical Review E, Vol. 61, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.61.3053	journal	March 2000
Boundary conditions in fluid models of gas discharges Hagelaar, G. J. M.; de Hoog, F. J.; Kroesen, G. M. W. Physical Review E, Vol. 62, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.62.1452	journal	July 2000
Low-power microwave plasma source based on a microstrip split-ring resonator Iza, F.; Hopwood, J. A. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 31, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2003.815470	journal	August 2003
Effect of Reconstruction Scheme on the Plasma Fluid Modeling With Original and Reformulated Ion-Related Modeling Equations Using HLL Flux Scheme Chen, Kuan-Lin; Tseng, Meng-Fan; Gu, Bi-Ren IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 47, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2018.2863539	journal	February 2019
On the Construction and Comparison of Difference Schemes Strang, Gilbert SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1137/0705041	journal	September 1968
High Resolution Schemes Using Flux Limiters for Hyperbolic Conservation Laws Sweby, P. K. SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis, Vol. 21, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1137/0721062	journal	October 1984
An Optimization-Based Approach for Elliptic Problems with Interfaces Kuberry, Paul; Bochev, Pavel; Peterson, Kara SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, Vol. 39, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1137/16M1084547	journal	January 2017
A Fast and High Quality Multilevel Scheme for Partitioning Irregular Graphs Karypis, George; Kumar, Vipin SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, Vol. 20, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1137/S1064827595287997	journal	January 1998
Gas breakdown and plasma impedance in split-ring resonators Hoskinson, Alan R.; Parsons, Stephen; Hopwood, Jeffrey The European Physical Journal D, Vol. 70, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2016-60445-x	journal	February 2016
Gas Plasma Effects on Living Cells Stoffels, E.; Sladek, R. E. J.; Kieft, I. E. Physica Scripta, Vol. T107, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1238/Physica.Topical.107a00079	journal	January 2004
High-Order Accurate Implicit Scheme for Drift-Diffusion Equations and Application to Dielectric Barrier Discharges Arpa, Rocco; D'Ambrosio, Domenic 40th AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2009-3909	conference	June 2009
Two-Dimensional Self-Consistent Radio-Frequency Plasma Simulations Relevant to the Gaseous Electronics Conference Rf Reference Cell Lymberopoulos, D. P.; Economou, D. J. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Vol. 100, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.100.036	journal	July 1995
Experimental observation and model analysis of second-harmonic generation in a plasma-metamaterial composite Iwai, Akinori; Nakamura, Yoshihiro; Bambina, Alexandre Applied Physics Express, Vol. 8, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.7567/APEX.8.056201	journal	April 2015

Similar Records

High frequency impedance characteristics of a tunable microplasma device

Journal Article · Thu Apr 15 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1852790

2.45 GHz microwave-excited atmospheric pressure air microplasmas based on microstrip technology

Journal Article · Mon May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:20702331

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
OpenFOAM
finite-volume method
fluid modeling
gas discharges
low temperature plasma
multiphysics

SOMAFOAM: An OpenFOAM based solver for continuum simulations of low-temperature plasmas

Citation Formats

References (45)

Similar Records

Related Subjects