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Synchronous gliding arc plasma-assisted ignition characteristics within dual-cavity in a kerosene-fueled model scramjet combustor
Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 2026, 39(6)
Published: 13 November 2025
Abstract Collect

In response to the challenge of achieving reliable and repeatable ignition in scramjet combustors at low flight Mach numbers, this paper introduces a kerosene-air gliding arc plasma (GAfa) igniter. Experimental investigations were conducted at a freestream total temperature of 900 K and a freestream velocity of Mach number 4, supplemented by Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to clarify the fundamental mechanisms of GAfa-enhanced ignition in supersonic flows. Experiments on dual GAfa igniter-assisted ignition under different Global Equivalence Ratios (GER) show that the GAfa igniter significantly expands ignition limits compared to conventional high-energy spark igniters. The ignition process exhibits a critical GER threshold, leading to transitions among ignition failure, upstream cavity (C1) stabilization, flame blowout, and downstream cavity (C2) stabilization. Numerical simulations under pure-mixing conditions reveal that at low GER, insufficient Local Equivalence Ratios (LER) and poor kerosene atomization cause failure. As GER increases, C1 achieves suitable LER first for ignition. At high GER, combustion-induced adverse pressure in C2 prevents strong shock train formation upstream of C1, while enhanced turbulence from C1 promotes C2 recirculation zone reactions, stabilizing the flame exclusively in C2.

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