Development of a Unified Code for Nonequilibrium Plasma Systems

Abstract

The goal of the project was to develop a new computational code to be used at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, (AEDC), Tullahoma, Tennessee, for analysis of plasmas characterized by high ionization fractions and extremely low number densities. Such conditions arise in two particular test facilities operated at AEDC: (1) the Decade Radiation Test Facility (DRTF), used to test the effects of strong radiation sources on materials and spacecraft components; and (2) the 12V Space Chamber, used to test electric propulsion (EP) thrusters used to control spacecraft. In order to have accurate predication of the quasi-neutral, kinetic flows in both facilities, the research was focused on developing a general, unsteady, electro-static, nonequilibrium gas and plasma simulation code that combined the capabilities of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method and the Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method. Efforts were also concentrated on applying the code to study the flows in the Decade and 12V facilities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 31, 2005
Accession Number
ADA448624

Entities

People

  • Iain D. Boyd

Organizations

  • University of Michigan

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemical Reactions
  • Electric Propulsion
  • Electrons
  • Engineering
  • Gas Flow
  • Heat Energy
  • Latent Heat
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Molecular Dynamics
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Particles
  • Simulations
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Components
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Facilities

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster