An experimental study on the stability of hypersonic plate boundary layer regulated by a plasma actuation array

Laminar–turbulent transition control is one of the key problems in the design of hypersonic vehicles. In particular, for air-breathing hypersonic vehicles, early onset turbulence in the boundary layer of a scramjet inlet precursor is desirable. Plasma actuation has become a popular flow control method in recent years and has made progress in regulating the stability of supersonic boundary layers. However, there have been few studies on the regulation of the stability of hypersonic boundary layers. In this paper, an experimental study on the stability of the hypersonic plate boundary layer is carried out using a spanwise plasma actuation array. The characteristics and evolution of different kinds of unstable waves in the hypersonic plate boundary layer (especially the dominant first mode wave) are analyzed based on the results of linear stability theory and high-frequency pulsation sensors. The typical morphological characteristics of the boundary layer and the macro-control effect of the plasma actuation array are explored through a high-speed schlieren method. Finally, based on grayscale mode extraction and proper orthogonal decomposition, the influences of three different actuation frequencies on the instability waves and characteristic structure of the boundary layer are studied, including the dominant frequency of the first mode wave, the half-frequency of the dominant frequency of the first mode wave, and the dominant frequency of the second mode wave, the change of characteristic structures under the regulation of plasma actuation is further discussed. The corresponding regulation rules and mechanisms are summarized. The results show that the plasma actuation array can advance the starting position of laminar discontinuities and that the induced coherent structure can excite instabilities at an earlier flow-direction position. The actuation can be used to control the stability of the boundary layer by acting on the first mode wave to break the original unstable wave spectrum characteristics. This verifies the ability of extensional array plasma actuation to regulate the stability of the hypersonic plate boundary layer and suggests it has great potential in the promotion of hypersonic boundary layer transition.