Electronic edition ISSN 1574-0579

Numerical analysis on the MHD flow control of the hypersonic vehicle inlet

L. Hao¹ , H. Hulin¹ , Zh. An² , Zh. Guiping¹

¹ Laboratory of Aerospace Entry Descent and Landing Technology, College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
² College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering mechanical engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China

Abstract
Under the assumption of a low magnetic Reynolds number, a coupled model of turbulent flow field and electromagnetic field is established to simulate the flow characteristics of Weakly Ionized Gas (WIG) at the inlet under magnetohydrodynamic effect. The results show that WIG has more active thermodynamic properties than that of the air at the inlet. Specifically, at the throat, the thermal conductivity of WIG is augmented by 1.64 times compared to that of the air. For the inlet with an MHD acceleration zone, the separation shock waves will fall on the third ramp and be converted into the reattachment shock waves there. And the separation bubbles generated by the reattachment shock waves are weakened due to the multiple reflections before entering the isolator, hence, the wall pressure and the skin friction coefficient have a decrease in the isolator. Nevertheless, at the inlet with an MHD deceleration zone, the separation shock waves will be fallen precisely at the throat under the effect of a countercurrent Lorentz force, so that the separation shock waves are directly transformed into reattachment shock waves at the throat and all reflected into the isolator, which leads to the peak manifestation of the wall pressure and the skin friction coefficient in the isolator. Tables 4, Figs 16, Refs 31.