Laser Thomson Scattering Measurements around Magnetized Model in Rarefied Argon Arcjet Plume

To elucidate the role of the Hall effect in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) aerobraking in rarefied flows,we measured the radial distributions of electron temperature and density in front of a magnetized model in a rarefied argon arcjet wind tunnel using the laser Thomson scattering method. We also developed a water-cooled magnetized model to prevent thermal demagnetization during the measurement. The measured electron density distributions were in excellent agreement with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions. It was also found that the magnetic field had little effect on the electron density distribution around the model. In the case without the magnetic field, the measured electron temperature almost agreed with the CFD prediction. However, the measured electron temperature increase caused by applying the magnetic field was about 1,000 K less than that of the CFD prediction. This discrepancy indicates that the location of an insulating boundary in the plasma is far from the model.

H. Katsurayama, R. Wada, K. Moriyama, K. Tomita · 2023