Shock Propagation and Supersonic Drag in Low Temperature Plasmas

Abstract

Abstract : This grant supported an Air Force-sponsored workshop, Understanding and Control of Ionized High-Speed Flows, which was conducted at Princeton University, February 26-27, 1998. In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in the formation mechanisms and properties of air plasmas. This interest is, in part, motivated by experiments conducted in Russia and in the United States which indicate shock propagation in weakly ionized air plasmas is at a higher velocity than would be predicted by presently understood models. If this is, indeed, the case, such plasmas could be used for supersonic/hypersonic drag reduction. In addition, atmospheric plasmas could influence flow control devices, electromagnetic attenuation, and hypersonic propulsion systems. As a consequence, the formation of such plasmas in atmospheric pressure environments, and the study of the properties of these plasmas, are of significant national interest.