Modelling and validation of a self-consistent methodology for instantaneous energy deposition

Instantaneous energy-deposition (ED) models are widely used for laser-induced flow-control simulations, but existing initialization approaches often lack a rigorous connection between the prescribed plasma seed and the deposited energy, and may suffer from insufficient smoothness or limited reproducibility of the reconstructed fields. This paper presents a self-consistent modelling methodology based on a field initialization for instantaneous ED. Starting from the prescribed absorbed energy, the average postdeposition state in the focal volume is obtained from thermochemical equilibrium relations and energy conservation. The corresponding spatial fields are then reconstructed using an experimentally informed asymmetric thermal-kernel shape, and the absorbed energy is enforced through a field-level energy closure. To accurately resolve the subsequent hydrodynamic evolution, several numerical improvements, including a low-dissipation flux scheme, componentwise slope limiting, primitive-variable reconstruction and a geometry-aware weighted limiter, are incorporated into a compressible density-based solver. Validation against quiescent-air and supersonic blunt-body experiments demonstrates that the method reproduces the equivalent shock-front propagation, late-stage thermal-kernel morphology and the measured drag-reduction efficiency. A parametric sensitivity analysis further shows that the deposited energy controls the early blast strength and the time scale of later jet development, while the kernel geometry, especially the radial spreading coefficient beta Subscript r β r β ᵣ , governs axial jet penetration and jet-vortex organization. In particular, insufficient radial spreading can qualitatively alter the jet-vortex organization by suppressing the jet-side secondary vortical structure. The proposed method therefore provides a reproducible ED initialization methodology and a quantitative framework for linking deposited energy and kernel geometry to shock propagation, thermal-kernel collapse, axial jet formation and vortex development.