Plasma-particle momentum transfer under conditions of great knudsen numbers and thin plasma sheath

Abstract

Particle drag force and thermophoresis results previous obtained are revised by including modified expressions for ion and electron components of the surface pressure. The present analysis shows that there is almost no difference between non-evaporating metallic and nonmetallic particles in their drags and there is only a little difference between those particles in their thermophoretic forces. The effect of evaporation on thermophoretic and drag forces is still marked, but the drag or thermophoretic force ratio with to without accounting for evaporation assumes somewhat different values from those obtained previously and depends notably on whether the particle is metallic or nonmetallic at high plasma temperatures.