Experimental study on high-energy surface arc plasma excitation control of cylindrical detached shock wave

In this study, an electrical parameter test system and a high-speed Schlieren system are used to study the control of a cylindrical detached shock wave through high-energy surface arc plasma excitation. The results show that, when plasma excitation is not applied, the bow shockwave angle around the cylinder is 52°. After the plasma excitation is applied, the arc discharge releases a large amount of heat within a short time, generating a shockwave and a control gas bulb (CGB). As a result, the bow shockwave angle first decreases and then increases, the pressure ratio before and after the shockwave decreases, and the intensity of the bow shockwave weakens. At t = 280 μs, the bow shockwave angle is reduced to a minimum of 46°. The effective interference time of high-energy surface arc plasma excitation on a cylindrical detached shockwave is 820 μs. A high temperature is used to control the heating effect of the bubbles, which will increase the local sound velocity near the wall, reduce the local Mach number, cause the sound velocity to move online, and eventually push the bow shockwave away from the cylinder. Concurrently, heating will accelerate the gas flow, reduce the pressure, and cause the mass flow in the unit flow area of the heated area to decrease, resulting in a strong compression effect, which deforms the bow shockwave. The high-energy surface arc plasma excitation will provide a potential technical means for high-speed aircraft detached shockwave control.