Rovibrationally state-specific collision model for the O2(Σg−3) + O(P3) system in DSMC

Abstract

A rovibrationally state-specific collision model for the O2(Σg−3)+O(P3) system is presented for direct simulation Monte Carlo, including rotation–vibration–translation energy transfer, exchange, dissociation, and recombination processes. The two-step binary collision approach is employed to model recombination reactions. Two available cross section databases by Andrienko/Boyd and Esposito/Capitelli are employed for the rovibrationally resolved model (rv-STS) and vibrationally resolved model (v-STS), respectively. The difference between rv-STS and v-STS comes from two contributions: the multisurface factor of dissociation (fMS) and the rotational averaging process. The dissociation cross section with the constant fMS is typically larger than with the variable fMS, especially for the low vibrational energy states. On the other hand, the cross sections resulting from the rotationally averaged database are found to underpredict the dissociation rate coefficient at low temperatures. In the rovibrational heating case, the rv-STS predicts faster relaxation than the v-STS, which also shows a lower quasi-steady-state temperature than v-STS. In the rovibrational cooling case, the rv-STS shows a faster relaxation than v-STS, which also presents a thermal non-equilibrium between rovibrational and translational mode during the cooling process.