The drag force on a subsonic projectile in a fluid complex plasma

A. V. Ivlev (1) and D. I. Zhukhovitskii (2)

(1) Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, Garching, Germany, (2) Joint Institute of High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Abstract—The incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is employed to describe a subsonic particle flow induced in complex plasmas by a moving projectile. Drag forces acting on the projectile in different flow regimes are calculated. It is shown that, along with the regular neutral gas drag, there is an additional force exerted on the projectile due to dissipation in the surrounding particle fluid. This additional force provides significant contribution to the total drag.


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