Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2006
The phenomena of momentum and heat transfer associated with an impulsively started spherical particle in a quiescent argon thermal plasma environment is considered. The changing plasma thermodynamics and transport property effects are studied using a Chebyshev-Legendre spectral method. Steady-state solutions for the case of constant sphere surface temperature are obtained and compared with previously published results. Transient solutions with particle internal heat conduction included are also presented. Results indicate that the magnitude of the drag force increases as the plasma free-stream temperature increases, while the Nusselt number decreases with increasing free-stream temperature. Effects due to different initial particle temperatures on the transient Nusselt number and drag coefficient are demonstrated.