dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaAn adaptive grid refinement strategy for the simulation of negative streamers
| Authors | C. Montijn, W. Hundsdorfer, U. Ebert |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0603070 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603070 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jcp.2006.04.017 |
| Journal | J. Comp. Phys. 219 (2006), 801-835 |
Abstract
The evolution of negative streamers during electric breakdown of a non-attaching gas can be described by a two-fluid model for electrons and positive ions. It consists of continuity equations for the charged particles including drift, diffusion and reaction in the local electric field, coupled to the Poisson equation for the electric potential. The model generates field enhancement and steep propagating ionization fronts at the tip of growing ionized filaments. An adaptive grid refinement method for the simulation of these structures is presented. It uses finite volume spatial discretizations and explicit time stepping, which allows the decoupling of the grids for the continuity equations from those for the Poisson equation. Standard refinement methods in which the refinement criterion is based on local error monitors fail due to the pulled character of the streamer front that propagates into a linearly unstable state. We present a refinement method which deals with all these features. Tests on one-dimensional streamer fronts as well as on three-dimensional streamers with cylindrical symmetry (hence effectively 2D for numerical purposes) are carried out successfully. Results on fine grids are presented, they show that such an adaptive grid method is needed to capture the streamer characteristics well. This refinement strategy enables us to adequately compute negative streamers in pure gases in the parameter regime where a physical instability appears: branching streamers.
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"abstract": "The evolution of negative streamers during electric breakdown of a\nnon-attaching gas can be described by a two-fluid model for electrons and\npositive ions. It consists of continuity equations for the charged particles\nincluding drift, diffusion and reaction in the local electric field, coupled to\nthe Poisson equation for the electric potential. The model generates field\nenhancement and steep propagating ionization fronts at the tip of growing\nionized filaments. An adaptive grid refinement method for the simulation of\nthese structures is presented. It uses finite volume spatial discretizations\nand explicit time stepping, which allows the decoupling of the grids for the\ncontinuity equations from those for the Poisson equation. Standard refinement\nmethods in which the refinement criterion is based on local error monitors fail\ndue to the pulled character of the streamer front that propagates into a\nlinearly unstable state. We present a refinement method which deals with all\nthese features. Tests on one-dimensional streamer fronts as well as on\nthree-dimensional streamers with cylindrical symmetry (hence effectively 2D for\nnumerical purposes) are carried out successfully. Results on fine grids are\npresented, they show that such an adaptive grid method is needed to capture the\nstreamer characteristics well. This refinement strategy enables us to\nadequately compute negative streamers in pure gases in the parameter regime\nwhere a physical instability appears: branching streamers.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0603070",
"authors": [
"C. Montijn",
"W. Hundsdorfer",
"U. Ebert"
],
"categories": [
"physics.comp-ph",
"physics.plasm-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1016/j.jcp.2006.04.017",
"journal_ref": "J. Comp. Phys. 219 (2006), 801-835",
"title": "An adaptive grid refinement strategy for the simulation of negative streamers",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603070"
},
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