Research status of electron beam plasma for aerodynamic applications in China

Summary form only given. Recently, many aerodynamic problems are arising under the quickly developments of supersonic and hypersonic flight ve hides, such as boundary layer separation, flight drag force in creasing, etc. Differencing with the passive flow control methods, the active method attracts more and more attention and becomes one of the most booming realms of aerodynamics. Among kinds of methods, the approach of non-equilibrium plasma is the most prospective one due to its fast reaction time, lo w device weight and size.In the decades, China has drawn up a detailed developing blu eprint of supersonic flight vehicles and a great progress has al ready been made. As a novel flow control method, the plasma method is also included in the technology research program. Thus a lot of research results are reported, however, the indu cing flow velocity of discharge is limited and therefore can n ot b e used in high velocity flow. So a new approach by using high energy electron beam is proposed by its some outstandi ng features, i.e. The large action scale and high efficiency. Considering the advantages, the characteristics of electron be am plasma for aerodynamic applications are investigated in C hina. The key processes, such as beam generating, flow excit ation and plasma evolution, are analyzed in detail. The results demonstrate that electron beam behaves as a high energy and efficiency actuator and has the capability to produce large sc ale plasma in supersonic air flow. In another way, in order to study the plasma flow control mec hanisms, several electron beam plasma equipment is construc ted. Now the Chinese designers are dedicating to improve the system performances and try to make a huge progress towar ds technology readiness. In this paper, the research status and recent progresses of elec tron beam plasma for aerodynamic applications in China are r eviewed. Meanwhile, the flow control mechanism of electron beam plasma is analyzed. By the analysis, the devel- ping ro admap of electron beam plasma flow control me tho d is esta blished and also points a way to who are interested in electro n beam..