Control of flow separation over a wing model with plasma synthetic jets

An array of 30 plasma synthetic jet actuators (PSJAs) is deployed using a modified multichannel discharge circuit to suppress the flow separation over a straight-wing model. The lift and drag of the wing model are measured by a force balance, and the velocity fields over the suction surface are captured by a particle imaging velocimetry system. Results show that the flow separation of the straight wing originates from the middle of the model and expands towards the wingtips as the angle of attack increases. The flow separation can be suppressed effectively by the PSJAs array. The best flow control effect is achieved at a dimensionless discharge frequency of F⁺ = 1, with the peak lift coefficient increased by 10.5% and the stall angle postponed by 2°. To further optimize the power consumption of the PSJAs, the influence of the density of PSJAs on the flow control effect is investigated. A threshold of the density exits (with the spanwise spacing of PSJAs being 0.2 times of the chord length in the current research), below which the flow control effect starts to deteriorate remarkably. In addition, for comparison purposes, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator is installed at the same location of the PSJAs. At the same power consumption, 4.9% increase of the peak lift coefficient is achieved by DBD, while that achieved by PSJAs reaches 5.6%.     

Experimental investigation of lift enhancement for flying wing aircraft using nanosecond DBD plasma actuators

The effects of the arrangement position and control parameters of nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD)plasma actuators on lift enhancement for flying wing aircraft were investigated through wind tunnel experiments at a flow speed of 25 m s~(-1).The aerodynamic forces and moments were obtained by a six-component balance at angles of attack ranging from-4°to 28°.The lift,drag and pitching moment coefficients were compared for the cases with and without plasma control.The results revealed that the maximum control effect was achieved by placing the actuator at the leading edge of the inner and middle wing,for which the maximum lift coefficient increased by 37.8%and the stall angle of attack was postponed by 8°compared with the plasma-off case.The effects of modulation frequency and discharge voltage were also investigated.The results revealed that the lift enhancement effect of the NS-DBD plasma actuators was strongly influenced by the modulation frequency.Significant control effects were obtained at/=70 Hz,corresponding to F~+≈1.The result for the pitching moment coefficient demonstrated that the plasma actuator can induce the reattachment of the separation flows when it is actuated.However,the results indicated that the discharge voltage had a negligible influence on the lift enhancement effect.     

Electrical and aerodynamic characteristics of sliding discharge based on a microsecond pulsed plasma supply

Plasma flow control technology has broad prospects for application. Compared with conventional dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators (DBD-PA), the sliding discharge plasma actuator (SD-PA) has the advantages of a large discharge area and a deflectable induced jet. To achieve the basic performance requirements of light weight, low cost, and high reliability required for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) plasma flight experiments, this work designed a microsecond pulse plasma supply that can be used for sliding discharge plasma actuators. In this study, the topology of the primary circuit of the microsecond pulse supply is determined, the waveform of the output terminal of the microsecond pulse plasma supply is detected using the Simulink simulation platform, and the design of the actuation voltage, the pulse frequency modulation function and the construction of the hardware circuit are achieved. Using electrical diagnosis and flow field analysis, the actuation characteristics and flow characteristics of sliding discharge plasma under microsecond pulse actuation are studied, the optimal electrical actuation parameters and flow field characteristics are described.     

Investigation of the interaction between NS-DBD plasma-induced vortexes and separated flow over a swept wing

The effect of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD) plasma flow separation control is closely related to the actuation frequency,because it involves the interaction between plasma-induced vortexes and separated flow.In order to study the mechanism of NS-DBD plasma flow separation control over a swept wing,especially the influence of the actuation frequency,at first,experimental studies of the actuation frequencies at 100 Hz are conducted to validate the numerical simulation meth...     

Discharge Characteristics of SF6 in a Non-Uniform Electric Field Under Repetitive Nanosecond Pulses

The characteristics of high pressure sulphur hexafluoride (SF ₆ ) discharges in a highly non-uniform electric field under repetitive nanosecond pulses are investigated in this paper. The influencing factors on discharge process, such as gas pressure, pulse repetition frequency (PRF), and number of applied pulses, are analyzed. Experimental results show that the corona intensity weakens with the increase of gas pressure and strengthens with the increase of PRF or number of applied pulses. Spark discharge images suggest that a shorter and thicker discharge plasma channel will lead to a larger discharge current. The number of applied pulses to breakdown descends with the increase of PRF and ascends with the rise of gas pressure. The reduced electric field (E/p) decreases with the increase of PRF in all circumstances. The experimental results provide significant supplements to the dielectric characteristics of strongly electronegative gases under repetitive nanosecond pulses.     

Analysis of flow separation control using nanosecond-pulse discharge plasma actuators on a flying wing

Abstract Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma is one of most promising flow control method for its several advantages. The present work investigates the control authority of nanosecond pulse DBD plasma actuators on a flying wing model’s aerodynamic characteristics. The aerodynamic forces and moments are studied by means of experiment and numerical simulation. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with experiment results. Both results indicate that the NS-DBD plasma actuators have negligible effect on aerodynamic forces and moment at the angles of attack smaller than 16°. However, significant changes can be achieved with actuation when the model’s angle of attack is larger than 16° where the flow separation occurs. The spatial flow field structure results from numerical simulation suggest that the volumetric heat produced by NS-DBD plasma actuator changes the local temperature and density and induces several vortex structures, which strengthen the mixing of the shear layer with the main flow and delay separation or even reattach the separated flow.     

Experimental investigation on DBD plasma reforming hydrocarbon blends

To improve the'detonation-supporting'performance of fuel-rich catalytic combustion products,DBD plasma,stimulated by adjustable nanosecond pulse power supply,was used to further regulate the components and concentrations of the hydrocarbon blends.In this paper,the parameters including load voltage,frequency,rising(falling)edge,pulse width and feeding flow rate were changed respectively,and the corresponding concentration and proportion change of the components in blend gas were investigated.According to the experiment result,it was found that when the discharge frequency is low,the plasma mainly promotes the transformation of light gaseous substances,while it mainly promotes the conversion to heavy hydrocarbons when the frequency is larger.Increasing load voltage will strengthen this trend.The controlling and reforming effect of plasma on the blend gas will decrease with the increase of voltage rising(falling)edge and the feeding flow rate.The regulation effect will be strengthened with the increase of pulse width under 200 ns.With the increase of discharge intensity,the'carbon'settles on the walls of the reactor,which will change the dielectric constant,leading to the loss of control of the discharge.     

Characterization of a microsecond pulsed non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure Ar plasma using laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy

A non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure argon(Ar) plasma excited by microsecond pulse is studied experimentally by laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy(OES), and theoretically by collisional-radiative(CR) model. More specifically, the electron temperature and electron density of plasma are obtained directly by the laser Thomson scattering, the gas temperature is measured by laser Raman scattering, the optical emissions of excited Ar states of plasma are measured by OES. The laser scattering results show that the electron temperature is about 1 eV which is similar to that excited by 60 Hz AC power, but the gas temperature is as low as 300 K compared to about 700 K excited by 60 Hz AC power. It is shown that the microsecond pulsed power supply, rather than nanosecond ones, is short enough to reduce the gas temperature of atmospheric pressure plasma to near room temperature. The electron temperature and electron density are also obtained by CR model based on OES, and find that the intensities of the optical emission intensity lines of 727.41, 811.73, 841.08, 842.83, 852.44 and 912.86 nm of Ar can be used to characterize the behavior of electron density and electron temperature, it is very useful to quickly estimate the activity of the atmospheric pressure Ar plasma in many applications.     

Aging Characteristics on Epoxy Resin Surface Under Repetitive Microsecond Pulses in Air at Atmospheric Pressure

Research on aging characteristics of epoxy resin(EP) under repetitive microsecond pulses is important for the design of insulating materials in high power apparatus.It is because that very fast transient overvoltage always occurs in a power system,which causes flashover and is one of the main factors causing aging effects of EP materials.Therefore,it is essential to obtain a better understanding of the aging effect on an EP surface resulting from flashover.In this work,aging effects on an EP surface were investigated by surface flashover discharge under repetitive microsecond pulses in atmospheric pressure.The investigations of parameters such as the surface micro-morphology and chemical composition of the insulation material under different degrees of aging were conducted with the aid of measurement methods such as atomic force microscopy(AFM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).Results showed that with the accumulation of aging energy on the material surface,the particles formed on the material surface increased both in number and size,leading to the growth of surface roughness and a reduction in the water contact angle; the surface also became more absorbent.Furthermore,in the aging process,the molecular chains of EP on the surface were broken,resulting in oxidation and carbonisation.     

Simulation of the spatio-temporal evolution of the electron energy distribution function in a pulsed hollow-cathode discharge

This article presents the 2D simulation results of a nanosecond pulsed hollow cathode discharge obtained through a combination of fluid and kinetic models. The spatio-temporal evolution of the electron energy distribution function(EEDF) of the plasma column and electrical characteristics of the nanosecond pulsed hollow cathode discharge at a gas pressure of 5 Torr are studied. The results show that the discharge development starts with the formation of an ionization front at the anode surface. T...     

Optimum Duty Cycle of Unsteady Plasma Aerodynamic Actuation for NACA0015 Airfoil Stall Separation Control

Unsteady dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) plasma aerodynamic actuation technology is employed to suppress airfoil stall separation and the technical parameters are explored with wind tunnel experiments on an NACA0015 airfoil by measuring the surface pressure distribution of the airfoil.The performance of the DBD aerodynamic actuation for airfoil stall separation suppression is evaluated under DBD voltages from 2000 V to 4000 V and the duty cycles varied in the range of 0.1 to 1.0.It is found that higher lift coefficients and lower threshold voltages are achieved under the unsteady DBD aerodynamic actuation with the duty cycles less than 0.5as compared to that of the steady plasma actuation at the same free-stream speeds and attack angles,indicating a better flow control performance.By comparing the lift coefficients and the threshold voltages,an optimum duty cycle is determined as 0.25 by which the maximum lift coefficient and the minimum threshold voltage are obtained at the same free-stream speed and attack angle.The non-uniform DBD discharge with stronger discharge in the positive half cycle due to electrons deposition on the dielectric slabs and the suppression of opposite momentum transfer due to the intermittent discharge with cutoff of the negative half cycle are responsible for the observed optimum duty cycle.     

Experimental Investigation on Aerodynamic Control of a Wing with Distributed Plasma Actuators

Experimental investigation of active flow control on the aerodynamic performance of a flying wing is conducted.Subsonic wind tunnel tests are performed using a model of a 35°swept flying wing with an nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD) plasma actuator,which is installed symmetrically on the wing leading edge.The lift and drag coefficient,lift-todrag ratio and pitching moment coefficient are tested by a six-component force balance for a range of angles of attack.The results indicate that a 44.5%increase in the lift coefficient,a 34.2%decrease in the drag coefficient and a 22.4%increase in the maximum lift-to-drag ratio can be achieved as compared with the baseline case.The effects of several actuation parameters are also investigated,and the results show that control efficiency demonstrates a strong dependence on actuation location and frequency.Furthermore,we highlight the use of distributed plasma actuators at the leading edge to enhance the aerodynamic performance,giving insight into the different mechanism of separation control and vortex control,which shows tremendous potential in practical flow control for a broad range of angles of attack.     

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet in Ar and O2/Ar Mixtures： Properties and High Performance for Surface Cleaning＊

An atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated in Ar and O2/Ar mixtures has been investigated by specially designed equipment with double power electrodes at 20~32 kHz, and their effects on the cleaning of surfaces have been studied. Properties of the jet discharge are studied by electrical diagnostics, including the waveform of discharge voltage, discharge current and the Q-V Lissajous figures. The optical emission spectroscopy is used to measure the plasma parameters, such as the excitation temperature and the gas temperature. It is found that the consumed power and the excitation temperature increase with increase of the discharge frequency. On the other hand, at the same discharge frequency, these parameters in O2/Ar mixture plasma are found to be much larger. The effect on surface cleaning is studied from the changes in the contact angle. For Ar plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of the discharge frequency. For O2/Ar mixture plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of discharge frequency up to 26 kHz, however, further increase of discharge frequency does not show further decrease in the contact angle. At the same discharge frequency, the contact angle after O2/Ar mixture plasma cleaning is found to be much lower compared to the case of pure Ar. From the results of quadrupole mass-spectrum analysis, we can identify more fragment molecules of CO and H2O in the emitted gases after O2/Ar plasma jet treatment compared with Ar plasma jet treatment, which are produced by the decomposition of surface organic contaminants during the cleaning process.     

Experimental investigation of the electromagnetic effect and improvement of the plasma radial uniformity in a large-area,very-high frequency capacitive argon discharge

We performed an experimental investigation on the electromagnetic effect and the plasma radial uniformity in a larger-area, cylindrical capacitively coupled plasma reactor. By utilizing a floating hairpin probe, dependences of the plasma radial density on the driving frequency and the radio-frequency power over a wide pressure range of 5–40 Pa were presented. At a relatively low frequency(LF, e.g. 27 MHz), an evident peak generally appears near the electrode edge for all pressures investigated here due to the edge field effect, while at a very high frequency(VHF, e.g.60 or 100 MHz), the plasma density shows a sharp peak at the discharge center at lower pressures, indicating a strong standing wave effect. As the RF power increases, the center-peak structure of plasma density becomes more evident. With increasing the pressure, the standing wave effect is gradually overwhelmed by the ‘stop band' effect, resulting in a transition in the plasma density profile from a central peak to an edge peak. To improve the plasma radial uniformity, a LF source is introduced into the VHF plasma by balancing the standing wave effect with the edge effect. A much better plasma uniformity can be obtained if one chooses appropriate LF powers, pressures and other corresponding discharge parameters.     

The Feasibility of Applying AC Driven Low-Temperature Plasma for Multi-Cycle Detonation Initiation

Ignition is a key system in pulse detonation engines(PDE). As advanced ignition methods, nanosecond pulse discharge low-temperature plasma ignition is used in some combustion systems, and continuous alternating current(AC) driven low-temperature plasma using dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) is used for the combustion assistant. However, continuous AC driven plasmas cannot be used for ignition in pulse detonation engines. In this paper, experimental and numerical studies of pneumatic valve PDE using an AC driven low-temperature plasma igniter were described. The pneumatic valve was jointly designed with the low-temperature plasma igniter,and the numerical simulation of the cold-state flow field in the pneumatic valve showed that a complex flow in the discharge area, along with low speed, was beneficial for successful ignition. In the experiments ethylene was used as the fuel and air as oxidizing agent, ignition by an AC driven low-temperature plasma achieved multi-cycle intermittent detonation combustion on a PDE, the working frequency of the PDE reached 15 Hz and the peak pressure of the detonation wave was approximately 2.0 MPa. The experimental verifications of the feasibility in PDE ignition expanded the application field of AC driven low-temperature plasma.     

Experimental study on plasma actuation characteristics of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge

Combining high-speed schlieren technology and infrared imaging technology, related research has been carried out on the influence of parameters such as actuation voltage, repetition frequency, and electrode size of an actuator on the discharge characteristics, induced flow field characteristics, and thermal characteristics of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. The results show that increasing the value of the actuation voltage can significantly increase the actuation intensity, and the plasma discharge area is significantly extended. Increasing the repetition frequency can increase the number of discharges per unit time. Both will cause more energy input and induce more changes in the flow field. The effect of temperature rise is more significant. The width of the covered electrode will affect the potential distribution during the discharge process, which in turn will affect the extension process of the plasma discharge filament. Under the same actuation intensity, the wider the covered electrode, the larger range the induced flow field and temperature rise is. Preliminary experimental analyses of high-frequency actuation characteristics, temperature field characteristics, flow field characteristics and actuation parameter settings provide support for the parameter selection and partial mechanism analysis of plasma anti-icing.     

Effect of DBD plasma excitation characteristics on turbulent separation over a hump model

In this paper, the effect of dielectric-barrier discharge plasma excitation characteristics on turbulent boundary layer separation over a hump is investigated using computational fluid dynamics. Four different turbulence models were used for verification. The Reynolds stress model showed the best agreement with the experimental data, in general. Based on the verification and validation, the effect of duty cycle and excitation frequency on the turbulent flow separation were investigated. The results showed that the pulsed plasma excitation could effectively suppress the flow separation by mixing augmentation. With increasing duty cycle and excitation frequency, the flow separation first increased, then decreased again. The optimal duty cycle was 0.75 and the optimal excitation frequency was 50 Hz.     

Effect of Airflows on Repetitive Nanosecond Volume Discharges

Atmospheric pressure discharges excited by repetitive nanosecond pulses have attracted significant attention for various applications.In this paper,a plate-plate discharge with airflows is excited by a repetitive nanosecond pulse generator.Under different experiment conditions,the applied voltages,discharge currents,and discharge images are recorded.The plasma images presented here indicate that the volume discharge modes vary with airflow speeds,and a diffuse and homogeneous volume discharge occurs at the speed of more than 35 m/s.The role of airflows provides different effects on the 2-stage pulse discharges.The 1st pulse currents nearly maintain consistency for different airflow speeds.However,the 2nd pulse current has a change trend of first decreasing and then rapidly increasing,and the value difference for 2nd pulse currents is about 20 A under different airflows.In addition,the experimental results are discussed according to the electrical parameters and discharge images.     

Characteristics of DBD micro-discharge at different pressure and its effect on the performance of oxygen plasma reactor

The oxygen plasma reactor based on dielectric barrier discharge principle can produce a high concentration of reactive oxygen species, which can cooperate with hydraulic cavitation gas–liquid mixer to realize the application of advanced oxidation technology in water treatment. In this technology, the work pressure of the oxygen plasma reactor is decreased by the vacuum suction effect generated in the snap-back section of the gas–liquid mixed container. In this paper, the characteristics of single micro-discharge at different pressures were investigated with the methods of discharge image, electrical characteristics and spectral diagnosis, in order to analyze the electrical characteristics and reactive oxygen species generation efficiency of oxygen plasma reactor at the pressure range from 60 kPa to 100 kPa. The study indicated that, when the pressure decreases, the duty ratio of ionization in the discharge gap and number of electrons with high energy increases, leading to a rise in reactive oxygen species production. When the oxygen reaches the maximum ionization, the concentration of reactive oxygen species is the highest. Then, the discharge intensity continues to increase, producing more heat, which will decompose the ozone and lower the production of reactive oxygen species. The oxygen plasma reactor has an optimum working pressure at different input powers, which makes the oxygen plasma reactor the most efficient in generating reactive oxygen species.     

Electro-Hydrodynamics and Kinetic Modeling of Dry and Humid Air Flows Activated by Corona Discharges

The present work is devoted to the 2D simulation of a point-to-plane Atmospheric Corona Discharge Reactor (ACDR) powered by a DC high voltage supply.The corona reactor is periodically crossed by thin mono filamentary streamers with a natural repetition frequency of some tens of kHz.The study compares the results obtained in dry air and in air mixed with a small amount of water vapour (humid air).The simulation involves the electro-dynamics,chemical kinetics and neutral gas hydrodynamics phenomena that influence the kinetics of the chemical species transformation.Each discharge lasts about one hundred of a nanosecond while the post-discharge occurring between two successive discharges lasts one hundred of a microsecond.The ACDR is crossed by a lateral dry or humid air flow initially polluted with 400 ppm of NO.After 5 ms,the time corresponding to the occurrence of 50 successive discharge/post-discharge phases,a higher NO removal rate and a lower ozone production rate are found in humid air.This change is due to the presence of the HO2 species formed from the H primary radical in the discharge zone.