Development of a theoretical model to describe the interaction phenomena between electric discharge and supersonic flow of a pulsed CO laser

A theoretical model to describe the interaction phenomena of heat release in a supersonic flow was developed. It based on a finite difference method, reliability is proved by analytical and numerical tests. For the case of a pulsed electric discharge in a Mach 3 flow the formation and propagation of density perturbations are investigated and results are presented for different energy distributions within the discharge volume. The repetition frequency of pulsed lasers can be exactly determined by calculating the clear-time of the flow. The applicability of the model to the description of other laser types is shown.