Electron losses in hypersonic flows

The first comprehensive study of electron gains and losses in hypersonic air flows including the full coupling between non-neutral plasma sheaths and quasi-neutral plasma flows is presented here. This is made possible by the use of advanced numerical methods that overcome the stiffness associated wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of fluids (1994) 2022-01, Vol.34 (1)
Main Authors: Parent, B., Thoguluva Rajendran, P., Omprakas, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air flow
Ambipolar diffusion
Coupling
Dynamic pressure
Electron energy
Fluid dynamics
High altitude
Hypersonic flow
Hypersonic vehicles
Mach number
Numerical methods
Physics
Plasma
Plasma density
Plasma sheaths
Sheaths
Stiffness
Temperature
Temperature dependence
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Summary:The first comprehensive study of electron gains and losses in hypersonic air flows including the full coupling between non-neutral plasma sheaths and quasi-neutral plasma flows is presented here. This is made possible by the use of advanced numerical methods that overcome the stiffness associated with plasma sheaths. The coupling between the sheaths, the electron temperature in non-equilibrium, and the ambipolar diffusion within quasi-neutral plasma flows is found to be critical to accurately predict electron losses and, thus, the plasma density around hypersonic vehicles. This is because electron cooling arising from the non-neutral sheaths significantly affects the electron temperature everywhere in the plasma and, therefore, the electron temperature-dependent loss processes of ambipolar diffusion and dissociative recombination. The results obtained show that electron loss to the surface due to catalyticity dominates over electron loss within the plasma due to dissociative recombination either (i) at high altitudes where the dynamic pressure is low, (ii) at low Mach number, or (iii) when the vehicle has a sharp leading edge.
ISSN:1070-6631
1089-7666
DOI:10.1063/5.0079685