| Autor: |
Capon, C. J., Brown, M., Boyce, R. R. |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
AIP Conference Proceedings; 2016, Vol. 1786 Issue 1, p1-8, 8p, 1 Diagram, 1 Chart, 4 Graphs |
| Abstrakt: |
This work investigates the charged aerodynamic interaction of a Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) cylinder with the ionosphere. The ratio of charge to neutral drag force on a 2D LEO cylinder with diffusely reflecting cool walls is derived analytically and compared against self-consistent electrostatic Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. Analytical calculations predict that neglecting charged drag in an O+ dominated LEO plasma with a neutral to ion number density ratio of 10² will cause a 10% over-prediction of O density based on body accelerations when body potential (ɸB) is ≤ -390 V. Above 900 km altitude in LEO, where H+ becomes the dominant ion species, analytical predictions suggest charge drag becomes equivalent to neutral drag for ɸB ≤ -0:75 V. Comparing analytical predictions against PIC simulations in the range of 0 < -ɸB < 50 V found that analytical charged drag was under-estimated for all body potentials; the degree of under-estimation increasing with ɸB. Based on the -50 V PIC simulations, our in-house 6 degree of freedom orbital propagator saw a reduction in the semi-major axis of a 10 kg satellite at 700 km of 6:9 m/day and 0:98 m/day at 900 km compared that caused purely by neutral drag - 0:67 m/day and 0:056 m/day respectively. Hence, this work provides initial evidence that charged aerodynamics may become significant compared to neutral aerodynamics for high voltage LEO bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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