| A new aerodynamic control scheme based on heating of the free stream flow is developed. The design, construction, and operation of a unique small scale wind tunnel to perform experiments involving this control scheme is detailed. Free stream heating is achieved by means of microwave driven discharges, and the resulting flow perturbations are used to alter the pressure distribution around a model in the flow. The experimental facility is also designed to allow the injection of an electron beam into the free stream for control of the discharge.; Appropriate models for the fluid flow and discharge physics are developed, and comparisons of calculations based on those models are made with experimental results. The calculations have also been used to explore trends in parameters beyond the range possible in the experiments.; The results of this work have been (1) the development of an operating facility capable of supporting free stream heat addition experiments in supersonic flow, (2) the development of a compatible instrumented model designed to make lift and drag measurements in a low pressure, high electrical noise environment, (3) a theoretical model to predict the change in breakdown threshold in the presence of an electron beam or other source of ionization, and (4) successful demonstration of aerodynamic control using free stream heat addition. |
