Impact of homogeneous and ionization unstable glow discharge plasma on a shock wave in air

Abstract

Abstract The work is aimed at exploring the possibility of control of strong shock waves up to their completely destruction. The impact on shock waves by creating a region of gas-discharge plasma in propagation media is proposed. A diffuse or ionization unstable discharge with the ionization strata of different scale on the path of a shock wave propagation is organized. As a result, the shock wave propagates over the region of homogeneous highly non-equilibrium plasma or over the medium of layered structure with higher degree of ionization and electron temperature in the layers. Numerical simulation of the propagation of a shock wave over the region of energy impact was carried out on the basis of the systems of Euler and Navier-Stokes equations with the flow parameters obtained in the experiment. The homogeneous plasma region was simulated by a rarefied gas region with increased temperature and constant pressure. The area formed by the ionization unstable discharge was simulated by a thermally stratified gas area. The strong influence of the ionization of the propagation medium on the transformation of the shock wave with the formation of a new shock wave configuration is shown. Stratification of the medium leads to a distortion of this configuration up to complete destruction of it.