Optimal Design for a High-Power Electric Arc Heater

High-power electric arc heaters are the only viable test equipments for heating air to high temperatures (2000-10 000 K) in a few minutes for experimental ground studies of hypersonic flight vehicle thermal protection systems. With the expansion of the exploration of outer space and the rapid development of hypersonic vehicles, more powerful arc heaters are urgently required to meet the demands of the aerospace industry. However, the design of high-power arc heaters faces many technical obstacles such as the need for high structural strength, the need for high-efficiency heat-transfer for cooling, the problem of high internal temperature flow, and the electromagnetic plasma coupling problem. To address these problems, this paper has discussed an optimization scheme, in order to improve the reliability and security of a high-power arc heater in extreme conditions, and at the same time improve the thermal efficiency of the arc heater, and extend the service life of an arc heater.