Computational Electromagnetic-Aerodynamics

Computational electromagnetic-aerodynamics (CEA) or computational electromagnetic fluid dynamics is an interdisciplinary science. The fundamental governing equations are the Boltzmann and Maxwell equations for describing the plasma dynamics in flow fields. The system of equations solves distribution functions of space and velocity in time that is a seven-dimensional formulation, and solutions to the governing equations are probabilistic. In cases the collision mean-free path is much greater than the characteristic scale of the studied phenomenon, the plasma can be approximated as collisionless and the Vlasov approximation is valid. The chapter discusses unique feature of diffusion in plasma and additional and uncommon mechanisms such as pressure, thermal, field force diffusion other than the electromagnetic field. In summary, most adopted numerical algorithms in CEA are shared with CFD, especially for thermally excited ionizations. These numerical procedures are built on either the classical ADI scheme for finite-difference approximation or the Gauss-Siedel relaxation for finite-volume approach.