Influence of the electron thermal conduction and ion kinetic effects on the structure of collisional plasma shocks

Abstract

The evolution of collisional planar plasma shocks is investigated by using a hybrid fluid-particle-in-cell code, which enables the analysis of the impact of ion kinetic effects. The structure and propagation of shocks in multi-component plasmas with moderate density (1022∼1024 cm−3) are found to be strongly dependent on the electron thermal conduction and ion kinetic effects. In high electron heat flux cases, the electron thermal conduction creates a preheat layer ahead of the shock front, allowing the energetic ions to stream through the upstream plasma. It is found that the shock velocity drops by about 4.67% and the heatwave velocity increases about 47% when the electron flux limiter increases from fe=0.05 to 0.15. Furthermore, the inhibiting effect of high electron heat flux on the species separation induced by the shock in multi-component plasmas is observed. These results provide a new dataset valuable for benchmarking and improving radiation hydrodynamic models.