Self-Contained Plasma-assisted Flow Control System for Futuristic Aerodynamic Control on Hypersonic Vehicle

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K18307
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aerospace engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: WATANABE YASUMASA 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 助教 (60736461)
• Research Collaborator: Institute for Flow Physics and Control, University of Notre Dame
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 航空宇宙工学 / 高速流体力学 / 放電プラズマ / 極超音速風洞 / 空力制御 / 空力加熱 / エネルギー回生 / 熱電素子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Experimental investigation was carried out to clarify the scale-effect of plasma-assisted aerodynamic control for hypersonic vehicle. Clear dependency of pressure variation per unit plasma power on Reynolds number was identified based on wind tunnel experiments. As an electricity source onboard, capability of energy recovery from hypersonic aerodynamic heating with high-temperature thermoelectric module was investigated both from experimental and analytical point of views, showing that it can generate significant amount of electricity for plasma-assisted flow control purpose. It was suggested that the combination of plasma-assisted flow control with aerodynamic energy recovery with thermoelectric module can form a promising self-contained plasma-assisted flow control system for futuristic aerodynamic control system on hypersonic vehicle.

Free Research Field

航空宇宙工学