Some Features of Pulse-Periodic Energy Supply in Supersonic Flow

Abstract

In the present work, the results of numerical and experimental investigations of supersonic flows with a localized energy supply are considered. The energy supply region (the heat source) was formed by the plasma created by a focused pulsed-periodic laser emission either by combustion in the separation zone upstream of the blunted body. The main attention is paid to the unsteady effects the role of which is determining at the integral flow structure formation. A physical model of energy source is formulated. The numerical and experimental data on the structure of the flow around the source and the characteristics of a thermal wake arising behind the source are compared. The energy pulses frequency and capacity are shown to determine the wake properties: the formation and development of subsonic regions, vortex structures, and reverse flow regions. It follows from an analysis of the aerodynamic drag variation at a flow with a thermal wake of the energy supply source around blunt bodies that the energy and pulse as well as its duration are the main parameters determining the efficiency of the frequency effect. A high sensitivity of the results to the physical model accepted in numerical investigation is shown. The pressure variation dynamics on a conical surface is presented versus the frequency of pulses. Comparison with experiment has shown a good quantitative agreement.