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Single dielectric barrier discharge plasma enhanced aerodynamics: physics, modeling and applications

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Abstract

The term “plasma actuator” has been a part of the fluid dynamics flow control vernacular for more than a decade. A particular type of plasma actuator that has gained wide use is based on a single dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) mechanism that has desirable features for use in air at atmospheric pressures. For these actuators, the mechanism of flow control is through a generated body force vector that couples with the momentum in the external flow. The body force can be derived from first principles and the plasma actuator effect can be easily incorporated into flow solvers so that their placement and operation can be optimized. They have been used in a wide range of applications that include bluff body wake control; lift augmentation and separation control on a variety of lifting surfaces ranging from fixed wings with various degrees of sweep, wind turbine rotors and pitching airfoils simulating helicopter rotors; flow separation and tip-casing clearance flow control to reduce losses in turbines, to control flow surge and stall in compressors; and in exciting instabilities in boundary layers at subsonic to supersonic Mach numbers for turbulent transition control. New applications continue to appear through programs in a growing number of US universities and government laboratories, as well as in Germany, France, England, Netherland, Russia, Japan and China. This paper provides an overview of the physics, design and modeling of SDBD plasma actuators. It then presents their use in a number of applications that includes both numerical flow simulations and experiments together.

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Notes

  1. 201 Corporate Terrace, Corona, CA.

Abbreviations

C :

capacitance

C D :

drag coefficient

C L :

lift coefficient

D :

drag force

E :

electric field

E b :

breakdown electric field

E s :

sustaining electric field

F + :

reduced frequency = fL sep/U ∞

I :

current

I c :

conduction current

I d :

displacement current

L :

lift force

L sep :

streamwise extent of separation region

P :

power

R :

resistance

Re c :

Reynolds number based on chord length and free-stream velocity

T :

period of ac cycle

T max :

maximum thrust

U :

mean streamwise velocity

U ∞ :

free-stream velocity

u′:

root-mean-square of streamwise velocity fluctuations

V :

plasma actuator voltage

V ac :

ac voltage

V p–p :

ac peak-to-peak voltage

c :

wing chord

f ac :

ac excitation frequency of unsteady plasma actuator

f b :

body force

q :

dynamic pressure

rf:

radio frequency

x, y :

axial coordinates

t :

time

α:

angle of attack

αs :

stall angle of attack

α0 L :

zero lift angle of attack

ε0 :

universal charge in a vacuum

λD :

Deby length

ϕ:

phase shift

ω:

2π/f ac

ρc :

charge density

φ:

electric potential

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, Center for Flow Physics and Control, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Thomas C. Corke

  2. US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Martiqua L. Post & Dmitriy M. Orlov

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  1. Thomas C. Corke
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Corke, T.C., Post, M.L. & Orlov, D.M. Single dielectric barrier discharge plasma enhanced aerodynamics: physics, modeling and applications. Exp Fluids 46, 1–26 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-008-0582-5

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