Effects of Plasma Plumes by Pulsed Laser Irradiating Centimeter-Level Space Debris

Abstract

Our aim in this paper is to address the effects of plasma expansion plumes by pulsed laser irradiating the centimeter-level space debris. A dynamic model of centimeter-level space debris irradiated by pulsed laser was established based on the finite element method (FEM), and the evolutionary processes and dynamics of plasma expansion plumes were simulated by COMSOL platform. Based on the simulation and experimental results, we verily the effectiveness of the proposed model by analyzing the plasma flow fields. Further, we describe the influence of impulse coupling coefficient with different incident laser powers. The results show that optimum coupling impulse is closely related to the variation of incident laser powers, and the jet velocity of the plasma expansion plumes increases with increase in the incident laser power. On the basis of this work, we investigate in details the dynamic responses of plasma expansion plumes generated by pulsed laser irradiating the debris with different incident laser powers and laser action times. We find that the jet velocity of the plasma expansion plumes increases fast with increase in the action time and incident laser power. Owing to the influence of plasma shielding, the jet velocity of the plasma expansion plumes reach about 348 m/s, when the action time of pulsed laser and incident laser power are 40 μs and 400 kW, respectively. The results obtained provide important theoretical reference for revealing the formation mechanism of plasma expansion plumes.