Lightning scramjet interaction theoretical and numerical investigation.

Abstract

Based on the literature regarding the scramjets and the plasma aerodynamics field in the hypersonic or supersonic flow, plasma actuators or spark discharge devices are used to control the shockwave-boundary layer interaction characteristics occurring in a scramjet for supersonic flows where the resulted separated zone could be enlarged due to the plasma actuator as well as the shockwaves structures induced by the wedge or ramp angle could be varied. As a matter of fact, all of these modified supersonic characteristics are induced by a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) device which is made by humans, that means it was about an artificial arc discharge which leads to new compressible phenomena. Therefore, this kind of plasma aerodynamics research pushes me up to wonder what will happen if a natural arc discharge strikes a scramjet flying in a supersonic flow knowing that the natural lightning phenomenon and the artificial spark discharge are not similar where they have different parameters such as the temperature, the generated heat and there are so many parameters in the process of investigation. Lightning discharge is simulated using ANSYS FLUENT where the Magneto hydrodynamics equations and terms are adopted and coupled with the Navier Stokes equations to be applied and executed along with the phenomenon of a supersonic flow over a scramjet inlet’s compression corner. In other words, the interaction between the lightning discharge and the shockwave generated by the ramp or the compression corner are simulated leading to novel results which are not discovered before. Within a time interval of nearly 1 ms, the shockwave wave structure will be modified by the propagating intense lightning strike. On the other hand, a second gap is discovered where analytical or theoretical formulae regarding the propagation of a blast wave in a compressed medium were not found. In fact, this phenomenon was just done experimentally as well as numerically. Static Pressure, Static Temperature and the density