Numerical Study of Nozzle Exhaust Plume Impingement on Flat Plate Under Low Pressure Environment

Impingement of satellite thruster plume on the adjacent surfaces of the satellite generates disturbance torques and heat loads that are undesirable. It is therefore important to configure the spacecraft such that the impingement effects of the thruster plume are minimized. In the present work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study of plume expansion in to low pressure environment is carried out, and the impact pressure and heat flux on the flat plate are determined. The simulations are carried out for the reported experimental conditions of plume impingent on a flat plate for various standoff distances of the plate from the nozzle. The Knudsen number distribution shows that the flow remains in continuum in the vicinity of the nozzle and at the impingement region on the plate. The results of the simulation are compared with the measured test data for model validation. Finally, the effect of incorporating temperature jump condition on the impingement heat flux estimation is presented. The CFD model predicts the peak pressure and heat flux within 1.6 and 11.9% of the measured data.