Leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil using a symmetrical dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator

In order to promote an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil using a symmetrical Dielectric Barrier Discharge(DBD) plasma actuator excited by a steady-mode excitation, an experimental investigation of an SC(2)-0714 supercritical airfoil with a symmetrical DBD plasma actuator was performed in a closed chamber and a low-speed wind tunnel. The plasma actuator was mounted at the leading edge of the airfoil.Time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) results of the near-wall region in quiescent air suggested that the symmetrical DBD plasma actuator could induce some coherent structures in the separated shear layer, and these structures were linked to a dominant frequency of f0= 39 Hz when the peak-to-peak voltage of the plasma actuator was 9.8 kV. In addition, an analysis of flow structures without and with plasma actuation around the upper side of the airfoil at an angle of attack of18° for a wind speed of 3 m/s(Reynolds number Re = 20000) indicated that the dynamic process of leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil could be divided into three stages. Initially, this plasma actuator could reinforce the shedding vortices in the separated shear layer. Then, these vortical structures could deflect the separated flow towards the wall by promoting the mixing between the outside flow with a high kinetic energy and the flow near the surface. After that, the plasma actuator induced a series of rolling vortices in the vicinity of the suction side of the airfoil, and these vortical structures could transfer momentum from the leading edge of the airfoil to the separated region, resulting in a reattachment of the separated flow around the airfoil.     

Numerical investigation of aerodynamic flow actuation produced by surface plasma actuator on 2D oscillating airfoil

Numerical simulation of unsteady flow control over an oscillating NACA0012 airfoil is investigated. Flow actuation of a turbulent flow over the airfoil is provided by low current DC surface glow discharge plasma actuator which is analytically modeled as an ion pressure force produced in the cathode sheath region. The modeled plasma actuator has an induced pressure force of about 2 k Pa under a typical experiment condition and is placed on the airfoil surface at 0% chord length and/or at 10% chord length. The plasma actuator at deep-stall angles(from 5° to 25°) is able to slightly delay a dynamic stall and to weaken a pressure fluctuation in down-stroke motion. As a result, the wake region is reduced. The actuation effect varies with different plasma pulse frequencies, actuator locations and reduced frequencies. A lift coefficient can increase up to 70% by a selective operation of the plasma actuator with various plasma frequencies and locations as the angle of attack changes. Active flow control which is a key advantageous feature of the plasma actuator reveals that a dynamic stall phenomenon can be controlled by the surface plasma actuator with less power consumption if a careful control scheme of the plasma actuator is employed with the optimized plasma pulse frequency and actuator location corresponding to a dynamic change in reduced frequency.     

Turbulent boundary layer separation control using plasma actuator at Reynolds number 2000000

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of symmetrical plasma actuators on turbulent boundary layer separation control at high Reynolds number. Compared with the traditional control method of plasma actuator, the whole test model was made of aluminum and acted as a covered electrode of the symmetrical plasma actuator. The experimental study of plasma actuators' effect on surrounding air, a canonical zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary, was carried out using particle image velocimetry(PIV) and laser Doppler velocimetry(LDV) in the 0.75 m × 0.75 m low speed wind tunnel to reveal the symmetrical plasma actuator characterization in an external flow. A half model of wing-body configuration was experimentally investigated in the  3.2 m low speed wind tunnel with a six-component strain gauge balance and PIV. The results show that the turbulent boundary layer separation of wing can be obviously suppressed and the maximum lift coefficient is improved at high Reynolds number with the symmetrical plasma actuator. It turns out that the maximum lift coefficient increased by approximately 8.98% and the stall angle of attack was delayed by approximately 2° at Reynolds number2 ×10~6. The effective mechanism for the turbulent separation control by the symmetrical plasma actuators is to induce the vortex near the wing surface which could create the relatively largescale disturbance and promote momentum mixing between low speed flow and main flow regions.     

Experimental Investigation into Characteristics of Plasma Aerodynamic Actuation Generated by Dielectric Barrier Discharge

This article carries out synthetic measurements and analysis of the characteristics of the asymmetric surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation.The rotational and vibrational temperatures of an N2 (C3Пu) molecule are measured in terms of the optical emission spectra from the N2 second positive system.A simplified collision-radiation model for N2(C) and N2+(B) is established on the basis of the ratio of emission intensity at 391.4 nm to that at 380.5 nm and the ratio of emission intensity at 371.1 nm to that at 380.5 nm for calculating temporal and spatial averaged electron temperatures and densities.Under one atmosphere pressure,the electron temperature and density are on the order of 1.6 eV and 1011cm-3 respectively.The body force induced by the plasma aerodynamic actuation is on the order of tens of mN while the induced flow velocity is around 1.3m/s.Starting vortex is firstly induced by the actuation;then it develops into a near-wall jet,about 70 mm downstream of the actuator.Unsteady plasma aerodynamic actuation might stimulate more vortexes in the flow field.The induced flow direction by nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation is not parallel,but vertical to the dielectric layer surface.     

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Various Plasma Actuator Configurations on Lift and Drag Coefficients of a Circular Cylinder Including the Effects of Electrodes

In this paper, the effects of the existence of plasma actuator electrodes and also various configurations of the actuator for controlling the flow field around a circular cylinder are experimentally investigated. The cylinder is made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and considered as a dielectric barrier. Two electrodes are flush-mounted on the surface of the cylinder and are connected to a DC high voltage power supply for generation of electrical discharge. Pressure distribution results show that the existence of the electrodes and also the plasma are able to change the pressure distribution around the cylinder and consequently the lift and drag coefficients. It is found that the effect of the existence of the electrodes is comparable with the effect of plasma actuator in controlling the flow field around the cylinder and this effect is not reported by other researchers. Eventually it is concluded that the existence of the electrodes or any extra objects on the cylinder and also the existence of the plasma are capable of changing the flow field structure around the cylinder so that the behavior of the lift and drag coefficients of the cylinder will be changed significantly.     

Flow separation control on swept wing with nanosecond pulse driven DBD plasma actuators

A 15° swept wing with dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator is designed.Experimental study of flow separation control with nanosecond pulsed plasma actuation is performed at flow velocity up to 40 m/s. The effects of the actuation frequency and voltage on the aerodynamic performance of the swept wing are evaluated by the balanced force and pressure measurements in the wind tunnel. At last, the performances on separation flow control of the three types of actuators with plane and saw-toothed exposed electrodes are compared. The optimal actuation frequency for the flow separation control on the swept wing is detected, namely the reduced frequency is 0.775, which is different from 2-D airfoil separation control. There exists a threshold voltage for the low swept wing flow control. Before the threshold voltage, as the actuation voltage increases, the control effects become better. The maximum lift is increased by 23.1% with the drag decreased by 22.4% at 14°, compared with the base line. However, the best effects are obtained on actuator with plane exposed electrode in the low-speed experiment and the abilities of saw-toothed actuators are expected to be verified under high-speed conditions.     

Aerodynamic performance enhancement of a flying wing using nanosecond pulsed DBD plasma actuator

Experimental investigation of aerodynamic control on a 35 swept flying wing by means of nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD) plasma was carried out at subsonic flow speed of 20–40 m/s, corresponding to Reynolds number of 3.1 · 105–6.2 · 105. In control condition, the plasma actuator was installed symmetrically on the leading edge of the wing. Lift coefficient, drag coefficient, lift-to-drag ratio and pitching moment coefficient were tested with and without control for a range of angles of attack. The tested results indicate that an increase of 14.5% in maximum lift coefficient, a decrease of 34.2% in drag coefficient, an increase of 22.4% in maximum lift-to-drag ratio and an increase of 2 at stall angle of attack could be achieved compared with the baseline case. The effects of pulsed frequency, amplitude and chord Reynolds number were also investigated.And the results revealed that control efficiency demonstrated strong dependence on pulsed frequency. Moreover, the results of pitching moment coefficient indicated that the breakdown of leading edge vortices could be delayed by plasma actuator at low pulsed frequencies.     

Effect of a transverse plasma jet on a shock wave induced by a ramp

We conducted experiments in a wind tunnel with Mach number 2 to explore the evolution of a transverse plasma jet and its modification effect on a shock wave induced by a ramp with an angle of 24°. The transverse plasma jet was created by arc discharge in a small cylindrical cavity with a 2 mm diameter orifice. Three group tests with different actuator arrangements in the spanwise or streamwise direction upstream from the ramp were respectively studied to compare their disturbances to the shock wave. As shown by a time-resolved schlieren system, an unsteady motion of the shock wave by actuation was found: the shock wave was significantly modified by the plasma jet with an upstream motion and a reduced angle. Compared to spanwise actuation, a more intensive impact was obtained with two or three streamwise actuators working together. From shock wave structures, the control effect of the plasma jet on the shock motion based on a thermal effect, a potential cause of shock modification, was discussed. Furthermore, we performed a numerical simulation by using the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation(IDDES) method to simulate the evolution of the transverse plasma jet plume produced by two streamwise actuators. The results show that flow structures are similar to those identified in schlieren images. Two streamwise vortices were recognized, which indicates that the higher jet plume is the result of the overlap of two streamwise jets.     

Characteristics of pulsed plasma synthetic jet and its control effect on supersonic flow

The plasma synthetic jet is a novel flow control approach which is currently being studied. In this paper its characteristic and control effect on supersonic flow is investigated both experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, the formation of plasma synthetic jet and its propagation velocity in quiescent air are recorded and calculated with time resolved schlieren method. The jet velocity is up to 100 m/s and no remarkable difference has been found after changing discharge parameters. When applied in Mach 2 supersonic flow, an obvious shockwave can be observed. In the modeling of electrical heating, the arc domain is not defined as an initial condition with fixed temperature or pressure, but a source term with time-varying input power density, which is expected to better describe the influence of heating process. Velocity variation with different heating efficiencies is presented and discussed and a peak velocity of 850 m/s is achieved in still air with heating power density of 5.0 · 1012W/m3. For more details on the interaction between plasma synthetic jet and supersonic flow, the plasma synthetic jet induced shockwave and the disturbances in the boundary layer are numerically researched. All the results have demonstrated the control authority of plasma synthetic jet onto supersonic flow.     

Analysis of blade vibration response induced by rotating stall in axial compressor

An experimental and numerical study was conducted to investigate the forced response of blade vibration induced by rotating stall in a low speed axial compressor. Measurements have been made of the transient stalling process in a low speed axial compressor stage. The CFD study was performed using solution of 3-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, coupled with structure finite element models for the blades to identify modal shapes and structural deformations simultaneously. Interactions between fluid and structure were managed in a coupled manner, based on the interface information exchange until convergence in each time step. Based on the rotating stall measurement data obtained from a low speed axial compressor, the blade aeroelastic response induced by the rotating stall flow field was analyzed to study the vibration characteristics and the correlation between the phenomena. With this approach,good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data was observed. The flow phenomena were well captured, and the results indicate that the rotating field stall plays a significant role in the blade vibration and stress affected by the flow excitation.      

射频介质阻挡放电改善NACA 0015翼型气动性能的实验

介质阻挡放电(DBD)均匀稳定、易于敷设,是机翼/翼型等离子体流动控制(PFC)中最常用的激励方式。射频介质阻挡放电激励频率高、放电功率大,且能在流场中产生明显的加热,应用潜力大。采用射频电源驱动DBD激励器产生等离子体,分析放电的体积力、热特性和诱导流场特性,开展了射频介质阻挡放电改善NACA 0015翼型气动性能的实验,研究了占空比、调制频率、载波频率和电源功率等参数对流动控制效果的影响规律。结果表明:射频等离子体激励的体积力效应随激励电压的增大而增加;射频等离子体激励产生的热量在诱导的流场中进行传导,加速流场;当来流速度为20m/s,Re=3.36×10~5时,在翼型前缘施加激励,使翼型临界失速迎角推迟1°,最大升力系数增大6.43%,且在过失速迎角下仍具有流动控制效果,使升力下降变缓;调制频率越大,控制效果越好;存在最佳占空比、载波频率和功率,占空比对流场控制效果的影响最显著,最佳占空比、载波频率和功率分别为20%,460kHz和50W。射频等离子体激励以体积力效应、热效应和诱导壁面射流改善失速流场,使得NACA0015翼型气动性能极大改善,流动分离得到有效控制。     

纳秒脉冲等离子体激励器用于圆柱高速流动控制的数值模拟

利用数值模拟,研究了纳秒脉冲介质阻挡放电（NS-DBD）等离子体激励器在圆柱高速流动控制中的应用。首先,研究了单电极NS-DBD等离子体激励器在静止空气中放电后的流场特性。研究表明在介质阻挡放电形成的等离子体区域,有局部能量快速注入,放电结束5 μs后在上极板后端点位置形成了一个局部温度高达900 K的热点,由此引发很强的压力扰动,形成以上极板后端点位置为中心,扩散速度约为声速的半圆形压缩波。在此基础上,通过数值模拟研究了NS-DBD等离子体激励器布置在直径为6 mm的圆柱上,来流马赫数为Ma_∞=4.6时,对圆柱脱体激波的控制作用。研究表明介质阻挡放电形成的半圆形压缩波对于脱体激波有很强的干扰作用,激波距离增加了15.7%,激波强度也有相应的减弱,导致阻力减少了13%。     

低速翼型分离流动的等离子体主动控制研究

为了研究等离子体激励器的放电形式及其诱导气流的规律,以及翼型迎角、自由来流速度分别对翼型流动分离抑制效果的影响。在低速、低雷诺数条件下利用介质阻挡放电等离子体激励器对NACA0015翼型进行了主动流动控制研究。结果表明：介质阻挡放电的形式为丝状放电;等离子体激励器诱导气流的方向由裸露电极指向覆盖电极,由电极的布置方式决定,与接线方式无关;当来流速度为25m／s,雷诺数为2．03×10^5时,等离子体气动激励可以有效地抑制翼型吸力面的流动分离,翼型最大升力系数增大约为9．7％,翼型l临界失速迎角由17．5°增大到20．5°;翼型失速延迟的真正原因并非单纯的气流加速;等离子体激励器的作用效果随着来流速度的提高而减弱,研究非定常激励或等离子体激励器与流场之间的耦合效应,也许更加具有潜力。     

脉冲介质阻挡放电等离子体热效应实验

为了研究介质阻挡放电的热效应,将介质阻挡放电等离子体激励器(DBDPA)安装在一个小型量热风洞中,采用微秒级脉冲等离子体电源驱动DBDPA产生放电等离子体。分别应用Lissajous图形分析方法和量热学原理获得了DBDPA的放电功率特性和热功率特性。结果表明:①脉冲介质阻挡放等离子体的放电功率、热功率和热效率均随着激励电压峰-峰值和激励频率的升高而逐渐增大;②脉冲介质阻挡放电等离子体的放电功率和热功率与激励电压和激励频率之间均存在幂函数关系,即脉冲式介质阻挡放电等离子的放电功率正比于激励电压峰-峰值的1.75次方,正比于激励频率的1次方,其热功率正比于激励电压峰-峰值的5.0次方,正比于激励频率的1.5次方;③在激励电压和激励频率这两个参数中,优先选择提高激励电压峰-峰值更有利于提高热效率,也可更快地提升介质阻挡放电等离子热功率中气体加热功率的比例。      

介质阻挡放电对增升装置气动性能的影响

增升装置是传统构型飞机的重要组成部分,对飞行器气动性能有重要影响。将高效、简便、节能的介质阻挡放电(Dielectric Barrier Discharge,DBD)等离子体激励器布置在增升装置附近,通过对流场进行控制来达到提高增升装置气动性能的作用。选取二维翼型GAW-1及其29%襟翼作为研究对象,在分析基础流场的基础上,固定激励器放电频率等参数不变,将单级介质阻挡放电激励器放置在几个不同位置,用数值模拟的方法研究其对翼型总体气动特性的影响。仿真结果表明,主翼上表面后缘处的激励器增升效果最好,增升达12.8%且将失速迎角推迟约2°,主翼下表面后缘的升阻比增加可达15%。     

等离子体激励抑制喷管分离流动数值模拟

为研究等离子体激励器对喷管分离流动的抑制作用,运用了模拟等离子体激励作用效果的唯象学模型,数值模拟研究了交流介质阻挡放电等离子体和电弧放电等离子体对喷管分离流动的抑制效果,并探究了电弧放电等离子体不同放电热功率密度、不同放电位置对抑制效果的影响。结果表明：电弧放电等离子体在抑制喷管分离流动方面有更好的效果。当电弧放电等离子体激励器作用于激波与边界层相互作用区的上游时,对分离流动的抑制效果最好;当电弧放电热功率密度较小时,其产生的诱导射流速度很小且不易对分离区的流线产生影响;当电弧放电热功率密度为8×10¹⁰ W/m³时,喷管的分离回流区完全消失。     

纳秒脉冲等离子体气动激励数值仿真

从纳秒脉冲等离子体气动激励对流场的作用机理出发,将其对流场的作用等效为热源对流场的快速加热,建立了纳秒脉冲等离子体气动激励的空气动力学模型.应用模型计算了单次纳秒脉冲等离子体气动激励下静止流场的响应,计算结果表明:纳秒脉冲等离子体气动激励可在静止流场中形成一个高温升压升区(716K,225.95kPa)和一个低温升压升区(380K,131.7kPa),分别可诱导一强一弱两道压缩波,压缩波后各有一道稀疏波.压缩波与稀疏波同速向外传播,传播速度开始较大(大于400m/s),随着逐渐向外传播,其传播速度逐渐减小(357m/s).压缩波经过的区域可诱导局部速度,初期诱导的局部速度较大,在激励器切向和法向可诱导60m/s以上的局部速度,随着压缩波的衰减,诱导局部速度的能力减弱,最大可诱导10m/s左右的局部速度.      

斜孔式等离子体合成射流激励器静特性的实验

设计了斜孔式等离子体合成射流激励器,采用电参数测量和高速纹影技术研究了其放电特性及瞬态流场特性。实验表明:相较直孔式等离子体合成射流激励器,斜孔式等离子体合成射流激励器的射流流动表现出明显的附壁效应和非对称性,这有利于提高射流对流动分离的控制能力。同时,实验中还观察到了浮力对等离子体高温射流流场演化的影响,特别是在射流演化的末期,其诱导的垂向速度分量显著地改变了射流的最终运动方向。      

基于数值模拟的NSDBD等离子体激励器防冰特性

飞行器表面在一定气象条件下会产生积冰,积冰会使飞行器气动性能下降,是危害飞行安全的重要因素之一。常见的气热及电热防冰系统已经广泛运用于现有飞行器上。近些年,在纳秒脉冲阻挡介质放电（NSDBD）等离子体激励器的相关研究中发现NSDBD等离子体激励器可对周围流场进行快速加热,考虑到这种热效应可能作为飞机防冰的一种新方式。本文用数值方法对NSDBD等离子体激励器防冰特性开展了研究。首先,建立了基于Messinger模型的积冰模型,对典型积冰条件进行了验证计算;其次,耦合唯象学等离子体模型与非定常雷诺平均Navier-Stokes方程,计算等离子体对空气流场的影响;最后,将NSDBD等离子体激励器布置在NACA0012翼型前缘防冰区,结合积冰模型与唯象学等离子模型,对其防冰特性进行了研究。计算结果表明等离子体加热的热气流会覆盖在翼型表面防冰区。在相同的霜冰条件下,开启等离子体激励器时机翼前缘没有出现积冰,说明等离体子激励器应用于机翼防冰是有效的。针对不同的激励器参数对防冰特性的影响规律进行了研究,总体上防冰效果与峰值电压、激励器频率有关,从防冰效果和能耗方面考量,在给定计算条件下,存在最优电压值和最优激励器频率值。激励器分布方式对防冰特性的影响与其具体流场有关,需要具体分析。     

等离子体控制翼型流动分离实验

为了提高等离子体的流动控制能力,在常规大气环境,来流风速分别为20m/s、30m/s、40m/s条件下进行了介质阻挡放电抑制NACA0015翼型流动分离实验研究。结果表明：等离子体能有效的抑制分离,实现增升减阻,但随着来流风速增加,有效控制的起始和终止攻角均变大,攻角区域却逐渐变小;可以通过在翼型分离点附近布置等离子体激励器,在允许的范围内尽量提高输入功率,使控制效果达到最佳。