Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of intense plume impingement effects from a 10 N bipropellant thruster

The intense interaction between thruster plumes and spacecraft surfaces presents substantial challenges for the advancement of space technologies. The impingement effects from a 10 N bipropellant thruster plume on a vertical instrumented plate were experimentally and numerically investigated in this study. Impingement pressure and heat flux were measured using micro differential pressure transducers and Gardon gauges, respectively, while the spatial distribution of the plume was captured using the high-speed camera. The phenomena and the distribution characteristics of plume impingement have been summarized, thereby providing a comprehensive validation dataset for subsequent predictions. Numerical simulations are conducted utilizing the coupled hybrid Computational Fluid Dynamics and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (CFD-DSMC) algorithm. The dependence of the simulation outcomes on grid resolution was critically assessed, and the accuracy of the results was validated by comparison with experimental data. An integrated methodology, combining experimental and numerical approaches, was developed to calculate the maximum heat flux under realistic grid configurations. This method has proven to be effective and supports the accurate and efficient evaluation of intense plume impingement effects for engineering applications.