A Multi-Physics Modeling Framework for Inductively Coupled Plasma Wind Tunnels
Alessandro Munafò, Robert Chiodi, Sanjeev Kumar, Vincent Le Maout, Kelly A. Stephani, Francesco Panerai, Daniel J. Bodony, Marco Panesi
Abstract
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-1011.vid This work discusses the development of a multi-physics modeling framework for Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) wind tunnels. As opposed to a monolithic approach, separate in-house solvers are considered to deal with the different parts of the complete model. The flowfield is modeled using hegel, a finite volume solver for non-equilibrium plasmas. The simulation of the electric field and the thermal Protection System (TPS) material sample is accomplished via a finite element solver and a finite volume solver (flux and pato, respectively). The three tools are coupled using the preCICE library. Results for a two-dimensional axi-symmetric ICP configuration are presented and discussed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed coupled approach for modeling ICP discharges along with material response and electromagnetic phenomena.