A flux-limited numerical method for the MHD equations to simulate propulsive plasma flows

For numerical simulations to be effective tools in plasma propulsion research, a higher order accurate solver that captures MHD shocks monotoni-cally and works reliably for strong magnetic fields is needed. For this purpose, a characteristics based scheme for the MHD equations, with flux limiters to improve spatial accuracy, has been developed. In this method, the symmetric form of the MHD equations, accounting for waves propagating in all directions, is solved. The required eigensystem of axisym-metric MHD equations, with appropriate normalization, is presented. This scheme was validated against unsteady (Riemann problem) and force-free equilibrium (Taylor state) test cases. The capability of this method to simulate resistive plasma Hows is demonstrated using a simple example.