The paper present the results of an experimental study of the effect of focused pulsed-periodic radiation from a CO2 laser on the initiation and development of a combustion process in subsonic and supersonic flows of homogeneous fuel-air mixtures (H2 + air and CH4 + air). The radiation from the CO2 laser propagated across the stream and was focused on the jet axis. To register the flow structure, a schlieren imaging setup with a slit and a flat knife was used. The image was recorded by a high-speed camera with exposure time of 1.5 s and frame rate of 1000 fps. At the same time, spectrozonal recording (at the wavelength of OH* and CH* radiation) and emission spectroscopy (in the wavelength range of 210-780 nm) was carried out. Stable ignition of methane and hydrogen-air mixture has been obtained at supersonic outflow into the flooded space. The results of the spectrozonal registration indicate the occurrence of combustion reactions in the wake behind the optical discharge region. The analysis of the radiation spectrum of optical discharge in a supersonic flow revealed the main types of radicals present in the plasma. Strong intensity was found in the H lines, which cannot help but affect the development of the initiation and behavior of the combustion process in the wake of the optical discharge.
