Future Technologies – Application of Plasma Devices for Vehicle Systems

The application of plasma devices for controlling and enhancing aerodynamic phenomena encountered in atmospheric flight vehicles is actively being investigated by many research groups throughout the world. These devices operate using the generation of plasma within the flowfield, generally through an electrical discharge or injection of an electron beam, and then using either the effects of the energy deposition itself or through application of electrostatic or Lorentz forces to modify the aerodynamic phenomena of interest. Plasma devices are being explored for applications ranging from drag reduction and steering control to boundary layer modification to ignition and combustion system enhancement. Note that since the plasma generation generally operates using electrically controlled phenomena, the frequency response of a control system can be very fast relative to hydraulic and electromechanical systems, so new control strategies can be explored. In the present notes, a variety of plasma flow control devices are described together with a discussion of their potential system-level impacts. High level results are also included from a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) titled “Advanced Physics System Study for Future Aerospace Vehicles,” which was performed under the sponsorship of the U. S. Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion and Power Directorate and Air Vehicles Directorate. Within this study, advanced plasma technologies with application to hypersonic flight vehicles were investigated and a system-level study was conducted to demonstrate or bound the potential performance benefits of these technologies.