State-specific transport properties of partially ionized flows of electronically excited atomic gases

Abstract

State-to-state approach for theoretical study of transport properties in atomic gases with excited electronic degrees of freedom of both neutral and ionized species is developed. The dependence of atomic radius on the electronic configuration of excited atoms is taken into account in the transport algorithm. Different cutoff criteria for increasing atomic radius are discussed and the limits of applicability for these criteria are evaluated. The validity of a Slater-like model for the calculation of state-resolved transport coefficients in neutral and ionized atomic gases is shown. For ionized flows, a method of evaluation for effective cross-sections of resonant charge-transfer collisions is suggested. Accurate kinetic theory algorithms for modelling the state-specific transport properties are applied for the prediction of transport coefficients in shock heated flows. Based on the numerical observations, different distributions over electronic states behind the shock front are considered. For the Boltzmann-like distributions at temperatures greater than 14,000 K, an important effect of electronic excitation on the partial thermal conductivity and viscosity coefficients is found for both neutral and ionized atomic gases: increasing radius of excited atoms causes a strong decrease in these transport coefficients. Similarly, the presence of electronically excited states with increased atomic radii leads to reduced diffusion coefficients. Nevertheless the overall impact of increasing effective cross-sections on the transport properties just behind the shock front under hypersonic reentry conditions is found to be minor since the populations of high-lying electronic energy levels behind the shock waves are low.