Fully Implict Magneto-hydrodynamics Simulations of Coaxial Plasma Accelerators

Journal Article · Thu Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2017 · AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2017-0843· OSTI ID:1363886

Subramaniam, Vivek ^[1]; Raja, Laxminarayan L. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

The resistive Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) model describes the behavior of a strongly ionized plasma in the presence of external electric and magnetic fields. We developed a fully implicit MHD simulation tool to solve the resistive MHD governing equations in the context of a cell-centered finite-volume scheme. The primary objective of this study is to use the fully-implicit algorithm to obtain insights into the plasma acceleration and jet formation processes in Coaxial Plasma accelerators; electromagnetic acceleration devices that utilize self-induced magnetic fields to accelerate thermal plasmas to large velocities. We also carry out plasma-surface simulations in order to study the impact interactions when these high velocity plasma jets impinge on target material surfaces. Scaling studies are carried out to establish some basic functional relationships between the target-stagnation conditions and the current discharged between the coaxial electrodes.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0003347; NA0002011
• OSTI ID: 1363886
• Journal Information: AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Vol. 55; Conference: 55th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Grapevine, TX (United States), 9-13 Jan 2017; ISSN 1947-7902
• Publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY