MHD Control of the Separation Phenomenon in a Supersonic Xenon Plasma Flow

Abstract

Abstract : The flow separation phenomenon is encountered practically in all areas of technology related to liquid or gas flows. Generally, the separation leads to harmful consequences such as an increase of the body drag, a decrease of the wing lift, unsteady loads, and at high supersonic velocities causes emergence of narrow zones with intense heat fluxes toward the vehicle surface. The flow separation at supersonic velocities is associated with the interaction between shock waves and boundary layers. Shock-wave/boundary- layer interaction (SWBLI) has been a subject of many investigations over the past four decades aimed eventually at designing supersonic and hypersonic air intakes 1. There are some convenient physical models allowing the researcher to study SWBLI experimentally under simple conditions by means of a relatively simple visualization technique. One of such models is a supersonic flow inside an inner dihedral angle (compression corner). SWBLI may cause the flow separation in the vicinity of a compression corner. Improvement of understanding of the mechanism of the control of that interaction and prevention of the separation can pave the way for solving the problem of designing an air intake for operation over a wide range of the flight velocities. According to the AJAX concept 2, a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) approach to controlling a supersonic flow of an ionized gas seems very attractive and advantageous.