Active flow control is a topic in full expansion due to associated industrial applications of huge importance, particularly for aeronautics. Among all flow control methods, such as the use of mechanical flaps, wall synthetic jets or MEMS, plasma-based devices are very promising. The main advantages of such systems are their robustness, simplicity, low power consumption and ability for real-time control at high frequency. This paper is a review of the worldwide works on this topic, from its origin to the present. It is divided into two main parts. The first one is dedicated to the recent knowledge concerning the electric wind induced by surface non-thermal plasma actuators, acting in air at atmospheric pressure. Typically, it can reach 8 m s−1 at a distance of 0.5 mm from the wall. In the second part, works concerning active airflow control by these plasma actuators are presented. Very efficient results have been obtained for low-velocity subsonic airflows (typically U∞ ≤ 30 m s−1 and Reynolds number of a few 105), and promising results at higher velocities indicate that plasma actuators could be used in aeronautics.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/40/3/S01/pdf

Airflow control by non-thermal plasma actuators

The term plasma actuator has now 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 field that couples with the momentum in the external flow. The body force can be derived from first principles, and the effect of plasma actuators 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 internal and external flow applications. Although initially considered useful only at low speeds, plasma actuators are effective in a number of applications at high subsonic, transonic, and supersonic Mach numbers, owing largely to more optimized actuator designs that were developed through better understanding and modeling of...

Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Flow Control

Actuators are transducers that convert an electrical signal to a desired physical quantity. Active flow control actuators modify a flow by providing an electronically controllable disturbance. The field of active flow control has witnessed explosive growth in the variety of actuators, which is a testament to both the importance and challenges associated with actuator design. This review provides a framework for the discussion of actuator specifications, characteristics, selection, design, and classification for aeronautical applications. Actuator fundamentals are discussed, and various popular actuator types used in low-to-moderate speed flows are then described, including fluidic, moving object/surface, and plasma actuators. We attempt to highlight the strengths and inevitable drawbacks of each and highlight potential future research directions.

Actuators for Active Flow Control

Several studies have shown that a surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) may be used as an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) actuator in order to control airflows In this paper, a parametric study has been performed in order to increase the velocity of the ionic wind induced by such actuators The results show that an optimization of geometrical and electrical parameters allows us to obtain a time-averaged ionic wind velocity up to 8 m/s at 05 mm from the wall Moreover, non-stationary measurements of the induced wind have been performed with synchronized records of current and voltage signals These experiments show that the DBD actuator seems to generate a pulsed velocity at the same frequency than the applied high voltage

Optimization of a dielectric barrier discharge actuator by stationary and non-stationary measurements of the induced flow velocity: application to airflow control

Thanks to their portability and the non-equilibrium character of the discharges, microplasmas are finding application in many scientific disciplines. Although microplasma research has traditionally been application driven, microplasmas represent a new realm in plasma physics that still is not fully understood. This paper reviews existing microplasma sources and discusses charged particle kinetics in various microdischarges. The non-equilibrium character highlighted in this manuscript raises concerns about the accuracy of fluid models and should trigger further kinetic studies of high-pressure microdischarges. Finally, an outlook is presented on the biomedical application of microplasmas.

Microplasmas: sources, particle kinetics, and biomedical applications

Optimization of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Actuator by Stattionary and Non-stationary Measurements of the Induced Flow Velocity - Application to Airflow Control

Application of an AC barrier discharge actuator to control airflow separation above a NACA 0015 airfoil: Optimization of the actuation location along the chord

Plasma actuators for airflow control: measurement of the non-stationary induced flow velocity

It is known that surface non-thermal plasma actuators have proved their efficiency for aerodynamics flow control. In this study, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is mounted on the diffuser of an axisymmetric turbulent air jet in order to control the flow separation along a 12-degree diffuser bevel. The momentum created by the actuator is applied to separate an air flow naturally attached to the diffuser for air flow velocity up to 40 m s−1. Laser sheet visualizations and LDV measurements are achieved to characterize the unforced and forced air jet. The flow separation, the induced velocity fluctuations, the jet mixing improvement and vectoring are investigated. The main results of this study demonstrate that DBD actuators are suitable to fully detach the air flow along the bevel for a velocity of 20 m s−1 and that a jet vectoring between 13.5° and 5.5° could be achieved for velocity ranging between 20 and 40 m s−1. Considerations about a potential improvement of the jet mixing are also introduced and the laser sheet visualization attests that induced flow perturbations are highly 3D.

Maxime Forte

Papers

Optimization of a dielectric barrier discharge actuator by stationary and non-stationary measurements of the induced flow velocity: application to airflow control

Optimization of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Actuator by Stattionary and Non-stationary Measurements of the Induced Flow Velocity - Application to Airflow Control

Application of an AC barrier discharge actuator to control airflow separation above a NACA 0015 airfoil: Optimization of the actuation location along the chord

Plasma actuators for airflow control: measurement of the non-stationary induced flow velocity

Control of an axisymmetric subsonic air jet by plasma actuator