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A parallel particle-in-cell code for spacecraft charging problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2020

Kai Zhang ,
Shiying Cai ,
Chunpei Cai Open the ORCID record for Chunpei Cai [Opens in a new window]  and
David L. Cooke
Kai Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI49931, USA
Shiying Cai
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI49931, USA
Chunpei Cai*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI49931, USA
David L. Cooke
Affiliation:
Space Vehicle Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM87117, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: ccai@mtu.edu
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Abstract

This paper reports the recent development of a full-scale particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation package highlighting an efficient electro-statics (ES)-PIC implementation for spacecraft charging problems. Numerical simulations are crucial in studying plasma flows because analytical solutions are rare, and experiments are expensive. There are many types of plasma flow that need various numerical methods for efficient and accurate simulations; as such, how to implement and organize those different methods into one comprehensive simulation package is challenging. This work adopted several modern software design patterns and developed a versatile package that includes various PIC schemes. This package has an open architecture, clean interfaces with both serial and parallel simulation capabilities. Two benchmark test cases are included to demonstrate the capabilities of this package. Then two plasma flows around a positively charged probe are simulated, and the results are discussed. The simulation results are consistent with past simulation results, and new insights are obtained. This work can lead to the development and organization of more sophisticated plasma simulation solvers in the future.

Keywords

plasma flowsplasma simulationspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , 905860308
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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