Numerical Modeling of Supersonic Flow with a Region of Heat Release by a Longitudinal-Transverse Discharge

Steady supersonic air flow in a diverging aerodynamic channel of rectangular cross-section is numerically simulated. The channel represents a laboratory model of an air-breathing straight-flow engine. The aerodynamic model is validated using the experimental data for the case in which the zone of volumetric heat release is absent. After the model has been validated a supersonic flow with a built-in zone of volumetric heat release was numerically simulated. Three-dimensional distributions of the velocity, temperature, and pressure in a steady supersonic air flow are obtained. It is shown that in the case, in which the volumetric density of the heat power of the source is equivalent to the mean total power of the discharge W = 10 kW, the discharge heats the gas up to the temperature T = 1700 to 4200 K, which leads to flow acceleration without its thermal choking. When the thermal power density of the source is equivalent to the mean common discharge power W = 20 kW, the gas is heated more strongly, up to 6700 K, but then local thermal choking of the flow occurs.