NUMERICAL ASSESSMENT OF HETEROGENEOUS PLASMA DISCHARGE EFFECTS ON SUPERSONIC FOREBODY DRAG

Plasma aerodynamics involves the creation of electrical discharges in a flowfield for the purpose of controlling or modifying some aspect of the flow and has been investigated for potential energy-efficient drag reduction for high-speed aerospace configurations. A numerical parametric study is presented that investigates the effects of heterogeneous plasma discharge on the supersonic flow over two-dimensional cones and wedges. Numerical solutions of the Euler equations, coupled with a first-order model of the discharge, are used to assess the effectiveness of using non-uniform pulsed filamentary discharges for drag reduction at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. Parameters examined include filament geometry and distribution, aerodynamic forebody shape, freestream conditions, and filament energy deposition model. The results indicate that, in most cases, a two-dimensional pulsed heterogeneous discharge results in a drag increase for low-angle wedge flows rather than a drag decrease.