Mechanisms of plasma actuators for hypersonic flow control

A summary of recent research progress in hypersonic plasma actuators for flow control is attempted. It is found that the most effective plasma actuator is derived from an electromagnetic perturbation and amplifies by a subsequent viscous–inviscid interaction. Computational efforts using drift-diffusion theory and a simple phenomenological plasma model, as well as experiments in a hypersonic plasma channel, have shown the effectiveness of using electro–aerodynamic interaction as a hypersonic flow control mechanism. In principle, the plasma actuator based on magneto–aerodynamic interaction should have an added mechanism in the Lorentz force, making it even more effective as a flow control mechanism. However, this approach also incurs additional challenges and complications due to the Hall effect.

Magneto–aerodynamic interactions have also been demonstrated for separated flow control, albeit in a very limited scope. Numerical simulations based on a simple phenomenological plasma model have shown the feasibility of separated flow suppression in shock-boundary-layer interaction over a compression ramp at a hypersonic flow of Mach 14.1. The control mechanism relies on the Lorentz force to energize the retarded shear layer in the viscous interacting region, but the effectiveness of momentum transfer via inelastic collision requires further validation.