Modeling of the plasma generated in a rarefied hypersonic shock layer

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physics of Fluids (1994)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3500680· OSTI ID:22038530

Farbar, Erin D; Boyd, Iain D ^[1]

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1. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2140 (United States)

In this study, a rigorous numerical model is developed to simulate the plasma generated in a rarefied, hypersonic shock layer. The model uses the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to treat the particle collisions and the particle-in-cell (PIC) method to simulate the plasma dynamics in a self-consistent manner. The model is applied to compute the flow along the stagnation streamline in front of a blunt body reentering the Earth's atmosphere at very high velocity. Results from the rigorous DSMC-PIC model are compared directly to the standard DSMC modeling approach that uses the ambipolar diffusion approximation to simulate the plasma dynamics. It is demonstrated that the self-consistent computation of the plasma dynamics using the rigorous DSMC-PIC model captures many physical phenomena not accurately predicted by the standard modeling approach. These computations represent the first assessment of the validity of the ambipolar diffusion approximation when predicting the rarefied plasma generated in a hypersonic shock layer.

• OSTI ID: 22038530
• Journal Information: Physics of Fluids (1994), Journal Name: Physics of Fluids (1994) Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 22; ISSN 1070-6631; ISSN PHFLE6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION
APPROXIMATIONS
CAPTURE
CHARGES
COLLISIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
HYPERSONIC FLOW
LAYERS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PLASMA
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PLASMA SIMULATION
SHOCK WAVES
STAGNATION