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Acta Armamentarii ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 1809-1819.doi: 10.12382/bgxb.2022.0174

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Plasma Distribution and Its Effect on Electromagnetic Wave Transmission across Vehicles of Varying Sizes

GAO Tiesuo*(), JIANG Tao, FU Yang’aoxiao, DING Mingsong, LIU Qingzong, DONG Weizhong, XU Yong, LI Peng   

  1. Computational Aerodynamics Institute, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan, China
  • Received:2022-03-21 Online:2023-06-30
  • Contact: GAO Tiesuo

Abstract:

Investigating the aero-electromagnetic wave transmission effect is crucial for the assessing and addressing communication blackout issues. This study employs a numerical method to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation and wave equation, focusing on the influence of antenna position, electromagnetic wave frequency, and characteristic size of the vehicle on plasma distribution and electromagnetic wave transmission. The results demonstrate that as the sphere radius increases under the same flight conditions, electron number density, plasma sheath thickness, and attenuation of electromagnetic wave also increase. The ionization of NO exhibits the most significant effect on the plasma distribution around antenna. The axial antenna position and electromagnetic wave frequency have a significant influence on the attenuation of electromagnetic wave. Thus, it is feasible to reduce the influence of plasma on electromagnetic wave transmission by increasing the frequency and selecting an appropriate antenna position. During reentry flight along the trajectory, plasma-induced electromagnetic wave attenuation reaches its peak, resulting in a narrower blackout range for high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The numerical results of electron number density and blackout range agree well with flight data under typical flight conditions, demonstrating that this computational code can provide technical support for the design of vehicle electromagnetic communication systems.

Key words: hypersonic vehicle, plasma, electron number density, electromagnetic wave transmission effect, numerical simulation