Laser Ignition in Hypersonic Combusting Flows

Abstract

Ignition by means of a high-powered laser pulse has some desirable properties for high-speed combustion, when compared with more commonly used arc-based ignition techniques. This paper summarizes the results of experiments investigating the feasibility of laser spark ignition for hydrogen-fueled high-Mach-number scramjet flight and discusses aspects of the research in which further investigation is required.