DBD Plasma Actuator “Opportunities for Flow Control”
Thomas Corke
University of Notre Dame
Institute for Flow Physics and Control
Hessert Laboratory for Aerospace Research
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Objective
“set the context in terms of applications and/or motivations for the continued exploration and/or development of DBD plasma actuators”
D. Smith, Feb. 4, 2010
Issues
What is behind the surge in interest of DBD flow control?
What are the properties of DBD plasma actuators that make it useful for flow control?
How do we marry these properties to flow control
applications?
What are the environmental sensitivities?
How good are predictive models?
Based on what we have learned, are there other applications of this technology?
Growing Interest
June 1, 2009:
AIAA Names Plasma Actuators as No 5. of the “Top Ten Emerging Aerospace Technologies”
What is the appeal of DBD plasma actuators?
No moving parts
Potential long life
Withstand high g-loading
High dynamic response
Ease of application and compactness
Can be placed at the most receptive locations
DBD actuator effect (body force) most easy to incorporate in CFD DBD actuators can also be sensors
Properties of DBD Actuators
•Ionized air in presence of electric field results in body force that acts on neutral exposed electrode
dielectric
covered electrode
substrate
Wall Jet?
air .
•Body force is mechanism of flow control.
“Wall Jet with Suction”
Complete Characteristics
DBD Plasma Actuators have proven to be excellent for separation control for a wide range of Mach numbers
Θ
Decreasing R
Not a simple function of Cµ
Flow Separation Applications
Fan
Retreating Blade
Stall
Dome Drag
Inter-turbine Duct
Inlets LPT Blades
HPT Tip/Gap
Wing
Fuselage
Aerodynamic Force
Vectoring High α
Improving DBD FC Performance
Increase Body Force: AC Waveform/Frequency, Dielectric, Geometry,
Combined DC/AC
Increase Receptivity:
Geometry Modifications,
Fluid Instabilities,
Unsteady Forcing Actuator
Performance
Environmental Effects:
Actuator Design: Jet-suction, SVGs, Vertical Jets, Roughness
Flow Physics
Metrics of Merit:
Flow Control,
Energy Budget Actuator
Requirements
P s,Moisture
Predictive Models Modeling/CFD are necessary for design of efficient flow control
systems
Requires efficient(semi-
empirical) DBD models
Models need to be validated
Need to agree on the level of validation
Time-averaged body
force vectors
Body force/Voltage
scaling
Time dependent body
force
Predictive Model Validation
Time-averaged Body Force Scaling with Voltage Time-resolved Body Force
Model
Experiment
Need for innovative Experiments
Acoustic Dipole
Summary
The characteristics of DBD plasma actuators makes them a popular choice for flow control
Although there has been an emphasis on their “thrust”
capabilities (Cµ), their “suction effect” is equally as
important (unique)
There are numerous applications that are well suited to their capabilities, particularly focusing on separation
control
Successful flow control begins by understanding the flow physics, which then guides the flow actuator
requirements
Use of flow instabilities, small geometric
modifications can reduce actuator requirements
Predictive capabilities are essential
Other Applications Plasma Adaptable Optics
Plasma Assisted
Plasma Periodic Roughness Methane Combustion
Plasma Anemometer。