Computational fluid dynamics modelling of a post-discharge in low-temperature argon plasma jets*

Plasma jets provide an easily accessible form of producing plasma excited species. These unobtrusive sources are used in different applications [1], and through modeling we can help develop further applications.

Our goal is to describe plasma-flow interactions, including the evolution of excited species in the post-discharge and afterwards, for longer timescales. To do this, we need high-fidelity modeling of the flow in complex geometries, while fully coupling advective, diffusive, and reactive effects.

Accordingly, we adapted SPARK [2], a hypersonic computational fluid dynamics code, to low-speed conditions (up to 9 ms^-1) with increased computational efficiency and additional streamer-like sources. Argon jet simulations show how different shielding gases and inlet velocity profiles affect the jet composition. Pulsed plasma-jet simulations show different spatiotemporal profiles of Ar* with varying shielding gases. We also show the potential of SPARK to simulate jet-target interactions.

This work can help understanding the production and propagation of different species over long timescales, which can be relevant for different plasma-jet applications.