Modeling and Analysis of Shock Reduction through Counterflow Plasma Jets

The study presents a numerical investigation of aerodynamic drag reduction by implementing a counterflow plasma jet, emanating from the stagnation point of an aerodynamic surface in a supersonic regime with a constant pressure ratio (PR = 3), and compares findings with a conventional opposing jet. The computational study is carried out by solving three-dimensional and axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations for counterflow plasma-jet interaction. The calculations are performed at free-stream Mach (M-infinity = 1.4) with sea level stagnation conditions. The weakly ionized argon plasma jet generated by a plasma torch has constant stagnation pressure and temperature of 303, 975 Pa and 3000 K. The effect of the Mach number and the angle of attack variation on plasma-jet effectiveness is also analyzed. The results indicate that the counterflow plasma jet reduces more drag (in twice) compared to the conventional jet (nonplasma). The gravitational, magnetic field effect and chemical processes in the plasma formation are considered negligible. It is inferred that the effectiveness of the counterflow plasma jet strongly depends upon the jet stagnation temperature.