High-Speed Processes in Continuous Media

A Special Issue of Fluids (ISSN 2311-5521) belonging to the section "Turbulence".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 5655

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Department of Mathematical Modeling of Computer-Aided Design Systems, Federal Research Center “Computer Science and Control” of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova st. 40, 119333 Moscow, Russia
Interests: fluid mechanics; computational fluid dynamics; numerical simulation; aerodynamics; flow control; CFD coding
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The research of high-speed processes in continuous media includes experimental and numerical studies in the field of designing aircraft, rockets, and landing vehicles, flow/flight control, as well as gas/plasma processes in combustion chambers, nozzles, electrical discharges, lasers, microwave pulses, and many others. Fast processes are characterized by complex shock–vortex interactions and the presence of large gradients of parameters due to the emerging shock waves, areas of shear deformations, and the possible development of various types of instabilities. The development of computer technology makes it possible to model such processes and predict their characteristics for subsequent experiments and technical solutions. High-speed optical diagnostic tools enable the highly accurate visualization of fast processes in various gas/plasma media. This Special Issue of Fluids aims to present the latest achievements in the numerical and experimental studies of high-speed processes in continuous media. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following areas: the supersonic/hypersonic flow of gas and plasma, high-speed flow/flight control, shock waves, boundary layers, turbulence, chemically reacting flows, processes in plasma, combustion and explosion, ignition, vortices and vortex structures, heat flows, gas-dynamic and plasma instabilities, high-fidelity numerical methods, and the visualization of high-speed flows.

Prof. Dr. Olga A. Azarova
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • supersonic/hypersonic gas flows
  • flow control
  • shock waves
  • boundary layers
  • turbulence
  • chemically reacting flows
  • plasma
  • combustion and explosion
  • ignition
  • vortices and vortex structures
  • heat fluxes
  • gas-dynamic and plasma instabilities
  • numerical simulation
  • experimental visualization

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 10705 KB  
Article
Evaluation of the Gas-Discharge Plasma Characteristics in the Absence and Presence of a Magnetic Field in a High-Speed Flow Based on Experimental Data and Predictive Modeling
by Olga A. Azarova, Tatiana A. Lapushkina, Ekaterina V. Reshetova and Oleg V. Kravchenko
Fluids 2026, 11(8), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids11080187 - 26 Jul 2026
Viewed by 313
Abstract
The main objective of this study is to obtain the average parameters of gas-discharge plasma when controlling the steady position of the bow shock wave (BSW) using the combined action of a gas discharge initiated by a current from an external source and [...] Read more.
The main objective of this study is to obtain the average parameters of gas-discharge plasma when controlling the steady position of the bow shock wave (BSW) using the combined action of a gas discharge initiated by a current from an external source and a magnetic field near the frontal surface of the model. The studies were carried out using both experimental and numerical methods in xenon and air. A comparison of the numerical and experimental dependences of the relative distance of the steady BSW from the model on the discharge power showed good agreement. Based on the conducted flow modeling, taking into account the dependence of the adiabatic index on the degree of ionization and the degree of nonequilibrium, and using the theory of Burm et al., gas-discharge plasma characteristics were obtained, such as the degree of ionization and the degree of nonequilibrium, the electron density and the electron temperature in the absence and presence of a magnetic field. By this way an integrated experimental–computational system was formed in which the measured characteristics of the discharge and BSW, as well as the numerically obtained averaged plasma parameters in the impact zone, are combined with the theory of Burm et al. to clarify the thermodynamic state of the medium and determine the corresponding characteristics of the gas-discharge plasma. The obtained results can be used for assessing the characteristics of plasma gas dynamic and magnetohydrodynamic phenomena in high-speed flows; for example, in the development of control systems that take into account the influence of plasma parameters and the electric and magnetic fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Processes in Continuous Media)
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18 pages, 7585 KB  
Article
Design and Characterization of a Bench-Top Ludwieg Tube for Aerodynamic Measurements via Simultaneous Quantification of Mach Number and Velocity
by Boris S. Leonov, Richard Q. Binzley, Nathan G. Phillips, Roman Rosser, Farhan Siddiqui, Arthur Dogariu and Richard B. Miles
Fluids 2026, 11(3), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids11030080 - 15 Mar 2026
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Abstract
This article presents the design and detailed characterization of a new supersonic wind tunnel at the Aerospace Laboratory for Lasers, ElectroMagnetics, and Optics of Texas A&M University, tailored for optical diagnostic development and sub-scale fundamental compressible fluid dynamics research. A Ludwieg tube tunnel [...] Read more.
This article presents the design and detailed characterization of a new supersonic wind tunnel at the Aerospace Laboratory for Lasers, ElectroMagnetics, and Optics of Texas A&M University, tailored for optical diagnostic development and sub-scale fundamental compressible fluid dynamics research. A Ludwieg tube tunnel architecture was selected due to its robustness, versatility, and low operational costs. The tunnel consists of a 50-foot-long driver tube constructed from modular Tri-Clamp spools, a Mach 4 nozzle with 3 in. exit diameter configured as a free jet, and a fast-acting valve with 14 ms opening time for high-duty-cycle operation. Such construction proved to be a robust, compact, and affordable solution for academic applications. Characterization methods consisted of simultaneous high-speed dot-schlieren, total and static pressure measurements, and femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging. Average flow velocity for the first steady-state test time was measured via FLEET at (668.0 ± 5.7) m/s. The Mach number was calculated based on the angles of the attached oblique shocks formed near the 30° cone model. Calculated Mach number was repeatable from run to run and had small oscillations near the average value of 3.96 ± 0.03. Based on the simultaneously measured velocity and Mach number, the static temperature was calculated to be between (68.6 ± 0.3) K and (66.3 ± 0.3) K throughout the 400 ms test time, completely defining the thermodynamic state of the generated freestream flow. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Processes in Continuous Media)
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16 pages, 1117 KB  
Article
Algebraic Prediction of Pressure and Lift for High-Angle-of-Attack Supersonic Asymmetric Delta Wings Based on Geometric Similarity
by Xue-Ying Wang, Jie Peng and Zi-Niu Wu
Fluids 2026, 11(2), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids11020030 - 24 Jan 2026
Viewed by 569
Abstract
In this paper, we explore the feasibility of deriving a simple, physically meaningful, and compact formulation for the pressure distribution and lift of an asymmetric delta wing at high angles of attack with an attached shock wave. Such a model would be valuable [...] Read more.
In this paper, we explore the feasibility of deriving a simple, physically meaningful, and compact formulation for the pressure distribution and lift of an asymmetric delta wing at high angles of attack with an attached shock wave. Such a model would be valuable for rapid engineering analysis. Our approach begins with a compact pressure approximation in the linear regime, which is then extended to the nonlinear case through a geometric transformation and the assumption of functional similarity between linear and nonlinear solutions. This method bridges the solution in the central nonuniform flow region to the exact solutions in the uniform flow regions near the leading-edge shock waves, in a manner analogous to methods used for supersonic starting flow. The model is shown to reproduce existing results for both symmetric and yawed delta wings within an acceptable error margin, providing a compact explicit expression for the normal force coefficient as a weighted average of pressure coefficients from the two uniform flow regions. Additionally, we outline how the approach may be extended to the upper surface, where the uniform flow is described by swept Prandtl–Meyer relations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Processes in Continuous Media)
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15 pages, 3156 KB  
Article
Numerical Investigation of NASA SC (2)-0714 Airfoil Icing in a Supersonic Flow
by Andrey Kozelkov, Nikolay Galanov and Andrey Kurkin
Fluids 2025, 10(10), 260; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10100260 - 5 Oct 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2814
Abstract
Modern software systems have implemented calculation techniques that allow numerical modeling of the icing of various aerodynamic objects and show themselves well when modeling the icing of objects at subsonic speeds. This paper describes a technique that is used to solve the problem [...] Read more.
Modern software systems have implemented calculation techniques that allow numerical modeling of the icing of various aerodynamic objects and show themselves well when modeling the icing of objects at subsonic speeds. This paper describes a technique that is used to solve the problem of icing the profile of a NASA SC (2)-0714 airfoil streamlined by a supersonic gas stream. A feature of modeling this class of problems is the consideration of factors that arise when moving at high speeds: at supersonic flight speed, aerodynamic heating of the surface above 0 °C is observed, which is accompanied by a high intensity of impinging supercooled water droplets on this surface. The results of the numerical solution of the NASA SC (2)-0714 airfoil icing problem showed that even at a positive airfoil surface temperature, ice shapes can grow at the leading edge due to intense deposition of supercooled droplets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Processes in Continuous Media)
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