Model surface conductivity effect for the electromagnetic heat shield in re-entry flight

Effects of model surface conductivity on shock layer enhancement by an applied magnetic field in weakly ionized supersonic plasma flow with a large Hall parameter ( β ∼ 300 ) was investigated experimentally. The shock layer structures of test models of two kinds were measured using laser absorption spectroscopy, in the large Hall parameter situation. One was an insulated model; the other was a conductive spherical blunt model. The shock layer enhancement phenomenon by the applied magnetic field was more pronounced for the insulated model than for the conductive model. This tendency agrees with the computational fluid dynamics result, at least qualitatively.