Shock wave modulation due to discharged plasma using a shock tube

Abstract

The interaction phenomenon between shock waves and the DC-discharged plasma was experimentally investigated to aid future supersonic aerodynamic performance improvements. A shock tube was used to generate the shock wave. For the discharged plasma generation, a wedge type test model with electrodes (anode and cathode) connected to the power supply system was installed into the shock tube measurement section. The nominal shock wave Mach number in the experiment was 2.0. The plasma input power range was from 0 W to 35.7 W, where 0 W corresponded to the no discharge case. Schlieren photography was used for visualization, and the pressure histories were measured. From the visualization, due to the interaction with the discharged plasma, shock wave modulation with curvature was observed. However, from the pressure measurement, pressure histories in a plane parallel to the shock wave were nearly identical between the side-wall and the top-wall, despite the shock wave modulation. From these results-obtained from visualization and pressure measurement, the shock wave modulation observed in this study had a three-dimensional (3D) structure. In order to comprehend this phenomenon, a 3D simulation with a simple modulated temperature field was conducted. The simulation results also indicated 3D shock wave modulation. Therefore, experiment and simulation both support the 3D structure of the modulated shock wave due to the interaction with the discharged plasma.

High speed digital recording of plasma-gas dynamic processes in supersonic channel flow

“…This effect can be used to attenuate the negative impact of the shock wave on the environment when designing supersonic aircraft. When studying the interaction of a nonequilibrium plasma medium (gas-discharge plasma of volume and surface discharges) with shock waves (Mach numbers from 2 to 7), the effect of broadening the shock wave and splitting it into several gas-dynamic discontinuities was detected by shadow imaging [2][3]. It was theoretically shown that with the aid of fast local (t < 1 μs) heating of the flow, the shock wave can be destroyed if the threshold energy input for a given shock wave intensity and flow parameters is exceeded [4].…”