Commissioning of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Wind Tunnel Facility for Hypersonics and Magnetoaerodynamics

Hypersonics, defined as high-speed atmospheric flight ranging in speed from approximately Mach 5 to over Mach 30, is becoming increasingly relevant to the national interest. These hypersonic flight regimes present numerous engineering challenges due to the extreme aerodynamic and thermal environments present, in which temperatures can be high enough to cause significant atmospheric dissociation and ionization, forming a plasma. When a magnetic field is applied to the ionized gas flow-field that exists around the vehicle during hypersonic flight, the charged particles tend to avoid crossing magnetic field lines. Innovative technology leveraging this magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interaction with these hypersonic and aerospace plasmas, or magnetoaerodynamics, could generate electrical energy from the flow and prove enabling for continuous hypersonic vehicle control without external control surfaces or reaction control systems, while also potentially expanding control authority to higher altitudes and reducing convective heat transfer. Technical challenges for both planetary exploration and national defense include vehicle maneuvering and thermal protection during hypersonic flight. To overcome these challenges, new technologies must be developed, and existing technologies advanced. Though magnetoaerodynamics has significant potential to alleviate both of these challenges, experimental investigations have been limited to date. This work presents the commissioning progress and preliminary characterization results for a state-of-the-art radio-frequency (RF) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) wind-tunnel experimental facility to study hypersonics and magnetoaerodynamics.