Coupled radiative, flow and temperature-field analysis of a free-burning arc

A computer simulation of a thermal plasma that utilizes a detailed line-by- line radiative analysis coupled to a flow and temperature-field analysis ha s been written. The radiative transport portion of the model uses the S-N d iscrete ordinates method and the required spectral radiative properties are calculated from basic atomic data. The flow and temperature-field portion of the calculation is handled using the finite-volume method. The thermal p lasma configuration studied using this coupled model is a two-dimensional, axisymmetric, 200 A, 1 cm long, free-burning are located in a one-atmospher e argon environment. Results from this analysis are compared with those fro m an uncoupled, line-by-line radiative analysis of this same are and from a how and temperature-field analysis that utilizes net emission coefficients to model the radiative source term. As thought, noticeable differences are found between results from the coupled and uncoupled analyses. This work p roves that it is feasible to conduct two-dimensional, coupled, line-by-line calculations in a thermal plasma, but the computational times are large.