Review of simulation model for capillary discharge plasma and its interactions with propellants

In order to investigate the capillary discharge plasma characteristics and its interaction with propellants, we reviewed the models of the eletro-thermal chemical(ETC) launch system. Meanwhile, we divided this system model into three sub-models, namely, the capillary discharge model, the plasma jet model, and the plasma propellant interaction (PPI) model. In these sub-models, the basic principles of the ablation model, capillary discharge plasma magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) model, plasma-jet model, heat transfer model and kinetic chemical model of the PPI were introduced. The development history of these models was discussed, and the advantages and limitations for these models were compared. The results show that the modified kinetic ablation model considering the effect of the plasma pressure and temperature matches the transient ablation process in the capillary discharge well. The distribution of plasma temperature and density at the capillary exit is uneven, so the two-dimensional capillary model is necessary. In the plasma-air and PPI model, the chemical reactions between plasma and air or propellant cannot be neglected. In the future work, the combination of the MHD model and kinetic chemical model should be explored to predict the ignition characteristics of different propellants more accurately.