Kinetic Particle Simulations of Plasma Charging at Lunar Craters Under Severe Conditions
Kinetic Particle Simulations of Plasma Charging at Lunar Craters Under Severe Conditions
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DOI：
10.2514/1.a35622
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发表时间：
2023-02
影响因子：
1.6
通讯作者：
D. Lund;Xiaoming He;D. Han
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
D. Lund;Xiaoming He;D. Han
本文提出了完全动力学粒子模拟的等离子体充电在月球陨石坑与月球着陆器模块的存在下，使用最近开发的并行浸没有限元粒子单元（PIFE-PIC）代码。计算模型明确包括月球基岩顶部的月壤层，考虑到月壤层厚度和介电常数以及月球着陆器模块在模拟域中，解决了一个非平凡的表面地形或月球着陆器配置。对等离子体环境下月球表面和月球着陆器模块在月面月终区撞击坑附近的充电过程进行了模拟研究。登月舱的位置也被调查，看看它对等离子体充电相对于陨石坑的影响。通过模拟清楚地解决了差异表面充电。对于由导电材料制成的月球着陆器模块的充电，结果显示接近其周围环境的接近均匀的电势和中等水平的局部电场。此外，在更恶劣的等离子体充电环境下，与充电和放电相关的风险显著增加，如恶劣等离子体环境案例所示。
This paper presents fully kinetic particle simulations of plasma charging at lunar craters with the presence of lunar lander modules using the recently developed Parallel Immersed-Finite-Element Particle-in-Cell (PIFE-PIC) code. The computation model explicitly includes the lunar regolith layer on top of the lunar bedrock, taking into account the regolith layer thickness and permittivity as well as the lunar lander module in the simulation domain, resolving a nontrivial surface terrain or lunar lander configuration. Simulations were carried out to study the lunar surface and lunar lander module charging near craters at the lunar terminator region under mean and severe plasma environments. The lunar module’s position is also investigated to see its effect on the plasma charging relative to the craters. Differential surface charging was clearly resolved by the simulations. For the charging of a lunar lander module made of conducting materials, the results show a near-uniform potential close to that of its surrounding environment and moderate levels of local electric fields. Additionally, the risks associated with charging and discharging increase significantly under a more severe plasma charging environment as shown in the severe plasma environment cases.