STUDY OF A LOW-PRESSURE NITROGEN PLASMA BOUNDARY-LAYER OVER A METALLIC PLATE

The modeling of a low-pressure nitrogen plasma boundary layer over a f lat plate is presented and compared with numerous measurements carried out on this test case. Shortcomings of state-of-the art physical and chemical models are discussed. In particular, wall conditions for a ni trogen plasma over a metallic plate are studied in detail. It is shown that in given flow conditions, the accommodation coefficient of the v ibrational mode on the metallic plate is very small. A complex recombi nation process of Nf ions at the wall is proposed to explain the low v alues of N number densities measured. (C) 1997 American Institute of P hysics. [S1070-664X(97)02211-8].