Gas and gas-droplet jet flows into vacuum

This paper presents a brief overview of experimental studies carried out at the Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to investigate the gas dynamics of low-density supersonic jets, including the creation of a vacuum gas-dynamic complex, the development of electron beam and laser methods diagnostics, studies of the influence of viscosity and nonequilibrium effects on the region of free supersonic expansion and the shock-wave structure of underexpanded jets. Problems are considered, and examples of using vacuum stands to model the power, thermal, and polluting effects of full-scale jets of orientation engines on the structural elements of spacecraft and orbital stations are presented.