ANTENNA BREAKDOWN IN A HYPERSONIC RE-ENTRY ENVIRONMENT.
Abstract
An evaluation is presented of the current state of the art for predicting antenna breakdown in a hypersonic re-entry cone boundary layer. It is shown that several significant differences exist between the problems of classical breakdown of cold air and breakdown in a hypersonic re-entry environment. An important consequence of these differences is the reduction of the influence of diffusion and the increased importance of the effects of convection in the high altitude regime. It is also shown that the effects of the re-entry environment on the composition of air require a re-evaluation of the rate coefficients required to predict breakdown. By coupling Maxwell's equations with the breakdown equation, time histories of the growth of electron density in the discharge have been calculated. As a result, it is shown that the definition of breakdown in a re-entry environment requires modification. Such a calculation also allows a prediction of the power transmitted during and after the breakdown process. The results, which indicate that there is a maximum amount of power that can be transmitted regardless of the amount of incident power, are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0473936
Entities
People
- Melvin Epstein
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation