Theoretical Simulation of Electrostatic Levitation of Lunar Dust

MAO Zi-rui; DI Bing; ZHANG Juan-juan

doi:10.3879/j.issn.1000-0887.2013.04.002

Volume 34 Issue 4

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MAO Zi-rui, DI Bing, ZHANG Juan-juan. Theoretical Simulation of Electrostatic Levitation of Lunar Dust[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2013, 34(4): 336-344. doi: 10.3879/j.issn.1000-0887.2013.04.002

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Theoretical Simulation of Electrostatic Levitation of Lunar Dust

doi: 10.3879/j.issn.1000-0887.2013.04.002

¹Mechanical Engineering School,Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, P.R.China;²Physics Science and Information Engineering School,Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, P.R.China

Received Date: 2013-01-28
Rev Recd Date: 2013-02-21
Publish Date: 2013-04-15

Abstract

Abstract

The electrostatic levitation of lunar dust particles in the lunar terminator region was simulated the main factors influencing levitation were analyzed. The reseach included two steps: PIC (particle-in-cell) simulations were carried out by using real ion to electron mass ratio to obtain plasma sheath, lunar surface charging, on the basis of which test particle simulations were adopted to simulate the levitation of dust particles from lunar surface. Results show that the solar elevation angle and dust grain radius are main controlling parameters for the levitation of lunar dust particles. The electrostatic levitation of lunar dust occurs during sunrise and sunset when the sun angle is small. The smaller the dust grain is, the higher it elevates due to electrostatic levitation on the same condition.
- electrostatic levitation,
- lunar dust,
- particle-in-cell(PIC),
- lunar dust charging

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References(11)

References

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