Abstract
The integral method developed in a companion paper [Phys. Fluids 31, xxx (1988)] is extended and applied in this work, to include electromagnetic body forces. A nonequilibrium ionizing argon boundary layer in an electric rocket thruster known as a magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster is studied. The steady boundary layer flow of a two-temperature plasma adjacent to the electrode in a self-field MPD thruster is analyzed for both frozen (zero ionization rate) flow and nonequilibrium (finite ionization rate) flow. The free-stream boundary conditions for this analysis are obtained from the results of an earlier quasi-one-dimensional nonequilibrium theory. The ionizing, two-temperature, compressible boundary layer equations with electromagnetic effects are solved using momentum and energy integral methods. This integral method without any electromagnetic effects has been described in the companion paper [Phys. Fluids 31, xxx (1988)]. This enables an approximate calculation of the wall shear and the heat transfer to the electrode. The most significant result of the two-temperature boundary layer theory presented herein is to show the strong dependence of the viscosity on the ionization slip (i.e., ionization fraction at the wall). This affects such relevant quantities as boundary layer thickness, wall shear, and wall heat flux, which in turn influence viscous drag and electrode erosion.
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