A method for near field computation of coupled weakly ionized plasma flows in low Earth orbit (Q1891103)

A simulation study of wake effects of a spacecraft is the main goal of the paper, and a new numerical method is proposed describing the properties of the chemically reacting flow as well as its thermal accomodation at the spacecraft surface. Since the nature of the flow physics is highly coupled, a full solution simultaneous approach is used. High resolution grid is used in the near wake region. The flow simulation uses Monte Carlo technique. Charged particles are treated by particle solutions of Poisson equation. Separate grid technique is applied to charged and neutral particles which interact by collisions. Charged particles interact with Coulomb forces, no influence of geomagnetic field is taken into account, only a constant magnetic field may intervene. The computational geometry does not prefer any special symmetry. Results for neutral or charged particle flows and full flow simulations are presented for orbital altitudes between 250 and 500 km, and it is found that the method gives excellent agreement with the results of previously verified computational algorithms.