Optimisation of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators and their application to fluid dynamics

• Main Author: Erfani, Rasool
• Other Authors: Kontis, Konstantinos
• Published: University of Manchester 2012
• Subjects: 532.05
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.558046

The standard dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator, in which an asymmetric arrangement of electrodes leads to momentum coupling into the surrounding air, has already demonstrated its capability for flow control. The effect of some parameters such as dielectric thickness, dielectric temperature, voltage amplitude, driving frequency, different configurations and arrangements on actuator performance are examined. The new configuration of DBD which uses multiple encapsulated electrodes (MEE) has been shown to produce a superior and more desirable performance over the standard actuator design. As the number of encapsulated electrodes increases and other variables such as the driving frequency and voltage amplitude are considered, finding the optimum actuator configuration for increasing the induced velocity becomes a challenge. The surrogate modelling optimisation provides a cheap and yet efficient method for systematically investigating the effect of different parameters on the performance of the plasma actuator. The effect of the optimum actuator configuration on the aerodynamic performance of an aerofoil under leading edge separation and wake interaction conditions is examined. The plasma actuator is placed at the leadingedge of a symmetric NACA 0015 aerofoil which corresponds to the location of the leading edge slat. The aerofoil is operated at a chord Reynolds number of 0.2×10 6. Surface pressure measurements along with the mean velocity profile of the wake using pitot measurements are used to determine the lift and drag coefficients, respectively. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is also utilised to visualise and quantify the induced flow field. In comparison with reported literature on the standard DBD configuration, the MEE setup employed here is shown to provide a better means of flow control for the control of aerofoil separation. The characteristicsof a DBD plasma actuator when exposed to an unsteady flow generated by a shock tube is also investigated. This type of flow, which is often used in different studies, contains a range of flow regimes from sudden pressure and density changes to relatively uniform high-speed flow regions. A small circular shock tube is employed along with the schlieren photography technique to visualise the flow. The voltage and current traces of the plasma actuator are monitored throughout, and using the well established shock tube theory the change in the actuator characteristics are related to the physical processes which occur inside the shocktube. The results show that not only is the shear layer outside of the shock tube affected by the plasma but the passage of the shock front and high-speed flow behind it also greatly influences the properties of the plasma.