Modeling and simulation of plasma jet by lattice Boltzmann method

In order to find a simple and efficient simulation for plasma spray process, an attempt of modeling was made to calculate velocity and temperature field of the plasma jet by hexagonal 7-bit lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) in this paper. Utilizing the methods of Chapman–Enskog expansion and multi-scale expansion, the authors derived the macro equations of the plasma jet from the lattice Boltzmann evolution equations on the basis of selecting two opportune equilibrium distribution functions. The present model proved to be valid when the predictions of the current model were compared with both experimental and previous model results. It is found that the LBM is simpler and more efficient than the finite difference method (FDM). There is no big variation of the flow characteristics, and the isotherm distribution of the turbulent plasma jet is compared with the changed quantity of the inlet velocity. Compared with the velocity at the inlet, the temperature at the inlet has a less influence on the characteristics of plasma jet.