Immersed Finite Element Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Plasma Charging at the Lunar Terminator
Abstract
A fully kinetic particle-in-cell model combined with a nonhomogeneous interface immersed finite element field solver is presented for simulations of the plasma charging at the lunar terminator. This model explicitly includes the lunar regolith layer and the bedrock in the simulation domain, taking into account of regolith layer thickness and permittivity, and is capable of resolving a nontrivial surface terrain or spacecraft configuration. Simulations are presented to study surface charging and lunar outpost charging at the lunar terminator region. The results suggest that substantial differential charging can develop, even under a very moderate plasma charging environment.
Recommended Citation
D. F. Han et al., "Immersed Finite Element Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Plasma Charging at the Lunar Terminator," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Jun 2018.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.2514/1.A34002
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Second Department
Mathematics and Statistics
Research Center/Lab(s)
Center for High Performance Computing Research
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1533-6794; 0022-4650
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2018 Daoru Han, Joseph J. Wang, and Xiaoming He, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jun 2018
