Vortex-Enhanced High-Enthalpy Supersonic Plasma Flows

Radio-Frequency (RF) Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) systems can be used to generate a high-density, partially ionized, plasma that can superheat an input gas to temperatures as high as 10,000 K. This strong gas heating makes ICPs useful for a number of industrial and space applications including materials processing, hypersonics and aerothermodynamics testing, and even novel electrothermal space propulsion systems.

The gas injection configuration plays a critical role in the overall stability and performance of the system and a limiting factor in many conventional designs is excessive heat losses to the walls. This is particularly true if the ICP uses a supersonic nozzle since very hot gas must be forced through a relatively small nozzle throat. For some applications, such as space propulsion, heat losses currently represent a technical barrier to further technology development and adoption. A promising and innovative gas injection configuration is the bidirectional vortex, which makes use of counter-propagating vortices to create a segmented flow field with a cooler outer vortex and a hotter inner vortex. Such bidirectional vortex flows have successfully been used in liquid propellant chemical rocket engines and offer a number of advantages including enhanced propellant mixing and heating, reduced heat losses to the walls, and smaller engine sizes. This project will explore bidirectional vortex flows applied to supersonic ICPs by using multi-physics simulations that couple fluid dynamics, plasma physics, heat transfer, and electrodynamics. This modelling will help to better understand the fundamental operation and physical processes in such systems and will prove vital for the development of future devices for ground- and space-based applications.

This project will be performed in collaboration with the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University (ANU), and with the von Karman Institute (VKI) for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium. There is potential for the student to occasionally visit ANU during their PhD and perform experiments to support the validation of numerical modelling results. There is also potential for the student to travel to VKI in Belgium for several weeks/months to work with project collaborators.

The ideal candidate will have a background in physics and/or engineering with strong mathematical, programming (ideally C++ and Python), and communication skills.

How to Apply

Express your interest by emailing Dr Trevor Lafleur at t.lafleur@adfa.edu.au. Include a copy of your CV and your academic transcript(s).