Transport properties of partially ionized argon in a magnetic field

A renewed interest in the calculation of transport coefficients stems from the need to have reliable data to be used for computational fluid dynamics modeling of high enthalpy flows of aerospace interest. Calculations have been performed for the accurate determination of transport coefficients of partially ionized argon in a magnetic field. The calculations employed the Chapman-Enskog method up to very high orders of approximation to calculate the tensorial transport coefficients of the plasma. The study considers the general case of ionization nonequilibrium in a wide temperature range under the action of an imposed magnetic field. Representative results from this extensive set of calculations are reported and some recommendations for use in computational fluid dynamics modeling are drawn.