Rarefied hypersonic flow in a plane channel with a surface glow discharge

The gasdynamic structure of a hypersonic molecular nitrogen flow in a plane channel whose opposite surfaces are segmented electrodes for generating a continuous surface glow discharge is investigated using a two-dimensional computational model. The electrodynamic structure of the surface glow discharge in the hypersonic rarefied gas flow (distributions of the charged particle concentrations, current density, and electric potential) is studied. A two-dimensional conjugate electrical-gasdynamic model consisting of the continuity, Navier-Stokes, and energy conservation equations and the chargedparticle continuity equations in the ambipolar approximation is proposed. The real thermophysical and transport properties of molecular nitrogen are taken into account. It is shown that using a surface glow discharge in a hypersonic rarefied gas flow makes it possible effectively to modify the shock-wave flow structure and hence to consider this type of discharge as additional tool for controlling rarefied gas flows.