Deceleration of Supersonic Plasma Flow by an Applied Magnetic Field

Bobashev, S. V.; Golovachov, Yurii; VanWie, David

doi:10.2514/6.2002-2247

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…It would be ideal to compare the method against a set of experimental data of air under MPD control and ionized through electron beams for flow conditions similar to those tackled herein. To the authors' knowledge, such experimental data are not yet available, except for one paper in which MPD control is applied to air flowing over a wedge at supersonic speeds [32]; unfortunately, the flow conductivity is not known.…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Study of an Electron-Beam-Confined Faraday Accelerator

Parent

Macheret

Shneider

et al. 2007

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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The numerical solution of a magnetoplasmadynamics accelerator intended for supersonic airbreathing propulsion systems is presented. The numerical method solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations closed by the Wilcox k! model, including the nitrogen vibrational energy and a finite rate chemical solver accounting for electron-beam ionization, electron attachment, and dissociative recombination. The fluid-flow equations are solved in conjunction with the electric-field-potential equation. Because of the recombination time of the electrons with the charged particles being in the order of microseconds, the interaction region is more or less confined to the area when e-beam ionization is applied. In this manner, a Faraday-type configuration can be obtained by using only one electrode pair. The impact of the length of the interaction region and the strength of the magnetic field on the efficiency are assessed. It is observed that the efficiency obtained numerically is as much as 40% less than the theoretical predictions for the highest magnetic field considered of 4 T. This is attributed to 1) the current concentration near the electrodes' edges causing a significant voltage drop and 2) unsteady behavior in the center of the channel due to the interaction between finite rate chemistry and electromagnetism. Nonetheless, an efficiency within 25% of the theoretical predictions can be obtained at high magnetic field by decreasing the width of the interaction region to one-tenth of its height. NomenclatureA = Avogadro's number, 6:02257 10 23 B = magnetic field vector b = constant function of and K C = charge, C C P = specific heat at constant pressure c = mass fraction E = electric field vector E = total energy e = charge of one electron, 1:60207 10 19 C e = internal energy e v = nitrogen vibrational energy e 0 v = nitrogen vibrational energy at equilibrium h = enthalpy j = current vector K = work interaction parameter, E y =v x B z k = turbulence kinetic energy L = length of the interaction region M = Mach number M = molecular weight m = atom or molecule mass N = number density P = pressure P k = turbulence kinetic energy production term Pr = Prandtl number q = flow speed q b = energy deposited to the flow from the electron beams R = gas constant Sc = Schmidt number St = Stuart number, eff B 2 L=q s = sign of a species ( 1 for negative ions and electrons and 1 for positive ions) T = temperature v = velocity vector W = chemical source term X = matrix needed to compute the effective conductivity = ratio of the specific heats ij = Kronecker delta = efficiency v = nitrogen characteristic vibration temperature = thermal conductivity e = electron thermal diffusion = viscosity, mobility = mass diffusion coefficient = ratio between the Joule heating and the work = density = electrical conductivitỹ = tensor conductivity eff = effective electrical conductivity taking into account ion slip k = user-defined constant for the Wilcox k! model ! = user-defined constant for the Wilcox k! model vt = vibration-translation relaxation t...

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Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%