At. Schonemann et al., ANALYSIS OF THE ARGON ADDITIVE INFLUENCE ON A NITROGEN ARCJET FLOW, Journal of thermophysics and heat transfer, 8(3), 1994, pp. 466-472
Two plasma wind tunnels for the simulation of conditions encountered b
y space vehicles during planetary entry, and for the development and q
ualification of heat protection material, are in use at the Institute
for Space Systems. The plasma is produced by a magnetoplasmadynamic (M
PD) accelerator, specially designed for the use of gas mixtures such a
s N2/O2 and carbon containing gas mixtures. At high mass flow rates an
d low power levels a protective gas layer of argon is produced at the
anode for a N2/O2 flow. The influence of the Ar additive on a nitrogen
plasma is investigated experimentally by means of electrostatic probe
s, mass spectrometry, pitot probes, and heat flux probes; and numerica
lly with a program especially developed for the simulation of the high
enthalpy flowfield of MPD accelerators. The existing numerical code f
or solving the chemical reactions within an air plasma was extended by
argon/air reactions. A comparison between the experimental data set a
nd the numerical simulation of the plasma flow is made for a N2 and a
N2/Ar plasma.