Interaction of a surface glow discharge with a gas flow

Abstract

A surface glow discharge in a gas flow is of particular interest as a possible tool for controlling the flow past hypersonic aircrafts. Using a hydrodynamic model of glow discharge, two-dimensional calculations for a kilovolt surface discharge in nitrogen at a pressure of 0.5 Torr are carried out in a stationary gas, as well as in a flow with a velocity of 1000 m/s. The discharge structure and plasma parameters are investigated near a charged electrode. It is shown that the electron energy in a cathode layer reaches 250–300 eV. Discharge is sustained by secondary electron emission. The influence of a high-speed gas flow on the discharge is considered. It is shown that the cathode layer configuration is flow-resistant. The distributions of the electric field and electron energy, as well as the ionization rate profile in the cathode layer, do not change qualitatively under the action of the flow. The basic effect of the flow’s influence is a sharp decrease in the region of the quasineutral plasma surrounding the cathode layer due to fast convective transport of ions.