On the calculation of the electron temperature flowfield in the DSMC studies of ionized re-entry flows

Abstract

Abstract Currently available procedures of electron temperature calculations in studying ionized flows around reentry spacecraft by the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method are analyzed. It is shown that the heat conduction of electrons is not taken into account in these procedures. The contributions of various effects to the electron energy balance are calculated by an example of the RAM-C II capsule, and a numerical solution of the electron energy conservation equation is obtained, which refines the electron temperature distribution used in the DSMC computations. A method of coupled calculation of the electron temperature within the framework of the continuum approach and modelling of ionized gas flow by the DSMC method is proposed.

Keywords

• Energy transfer
• Ionized gases
• Low density flow
• DSMC method
• Plasma model
• Electron temperature