Braking of a “Magnetized” Sphere in a Hypersonic Rarefied Plasma Flow

Abstract

The dependence of the drag coefficient of a “magnetized” (with a self-generated magnetic field) sphere on the ratio of the magnetic pressure to the gas dynamic pressure in a hypersonic rarefied plasma flow is determined experimentally. The dependences are obtained for a wide range of angles between the vectors of the incident flow velocity and the magnetic field, as well as between the velocity vectors of the incident hypersonic plasma flow and a subsonic plasma jet injected from the surface of the sphere. It is shown that the injection of a subsonic plasma jet from the surface of a “magnetized” sphere in a hypersonic rarefied plasma flow increases its drag coefficient by several times in comparison with an “unmagnetized” sphere.