The heat barrier, resulting from shock waves, is the main problem to overcome in hypersonic flight. Shock waves start from the intersection of Mach waves, but it is shown that a suitable electromagnetic force field can modify the pattern. Computational and experimental studies involving magnetohydrodynamics are presented, allowing for shock wave cancellation and active aerodynamic control of an ionized flow through Lorentz force action. Further solutions are also considered for advanced

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... e applications of MHD converters using magnetized non-equilibrium plasmas. * Plasma physicist and non-equilibrium MHD specialist, retired from CNRS. Current director of LAMBDA laboratory,