A Critical Review of Electric and Electromagnetic Flow Control Research Applied to Aerodynamics

Braun, Erik; Lu, Frank K.; Wilson, Donald R.

doi:10.2514/6.2008-3788

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…In addition, other configurations have been tested [2][3][4][5][6], all operating with no moving parts or stored propellants. A related approach is the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), which substitutes the interelectrode air gap with a thin dielectric layer [7]. DBD systems require a continuous solid surface and have been studied for flow control rather than for propulsion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the performance of electrohydrodynamic propulsion

Masuyama

Barrett

2013

Proc. R. Soc. A.

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Partially ionized fluids can gain net momentum under an electric field, as charged particles undergo momentum-transfer collisions with neutral molecules in a phenomenon termed an ionic wind. Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) thrusters generate thrust by using two or more electrodes to ionize the ambient fluid and create an electric field. We characterize the performance of EHD thrusters of single-(SS) and dual-stage (DS) configurations. SS thrusters refer to a geometry using one emitter electrode, an air gap and a collector electrode with large radius of curvature relative to the emitter. DS thrusters add a collinear intermediate electrode. SS thruster performance was shown to be consistent with a one-dimensional theory. Increasing the gap length requires a higher voltage for thrust onset, generates less thrust per input voltage, generates more thrust per input current and most importantly generates more thrust per input power. A thrust-to-power ratio as high as approximately 100 N kW −1 was obtained. DS thrusters were shown to be more effective than their SS counterparts at producing current, leading to a smaller total voltage necessary for producing equal thrust. However, losses involving ion collection at the intermediate electrode led to reduced thrust-per-power compared with the SS thruster of equal length.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the performance of electrohydrodynamic propulsion

Masuyama

Barrett

2013

Proc. R. Soc. A.

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“…This has also motivated literature focused on developing computational models to solve the EHD governing equations [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In aerospace engineering, research efforts have focused on using dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) to provide aerodynamic flow control to prevent subsonic boundary layer separation over aerofoils [18][19][20]. However, few studies in the literature have assessed the use of ionic winds in propulsion applications.…”

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confidence: 99%

Electrohydrodynamic thrust density using positive corona-induced ionic winds for in-atmosphere propulsion

Gilmore

Barrett

2015

Proc. R. Soc. A.

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ResearchCite this article: Gilmore CK, Barrett SRH. 2015 Electrohydrodynamic thrust density using positive corona-induced ionic winds for in-atmosphere propulsion. Proc. R. Soc Previous work has characterized electrohydrodynamic (EHD) thruster performance, determining that thrust-to-power ratios are comparable with that of conventional propulsion at the laboratory scale. Achievable thrust density of EHD propulsion has yet to be experimentally quantified and could be a limiting factor in its application. In this paper, we quantify the achievable thrust density for a wire-to-cylinder electrode geometry using positive corona discharges for electrode pairs operating in parallel and in series. Geometric parameters, including the non-dimensional inter-pair and stage spacings, are varied, and the effect on current and thrust is measured. We estimate a maximum thrust per unit area of 3.3 N m −2 and a maximum thrust per unit volume of 15 N m −3 , which we compare with the characteristic thrust density of a range of aircraft. We find that trade-offs exist between thrust density and the achieved thrust-to-power ratio, where increases in the former through either increased power input or pair packing density lead to decreases in the latter. We conclude that EHD propulsion has the potential to be viable from both an energy efficiency perspective (our previous study) and a thrust density perspective (this paper), with the greatest likelihood of viability for smaller aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles.

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“…A detailed survey of the recent developments in plasma-based flow control can be found in a number of review articles published recently (e.g. Corke and Post (2005), Moreau (2007), Braun et al (2008), Corke et al (2009Corke et al ( , 2010 and Cattafesta and Sheplak (2011)). In addition to techniques such as particle image velocimetry, previous researchers have also characterized the plasma-actuator performance in terms of the mean surface pressure field, which does not necessitate placing the instrumentation close to the discharge (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for acquiring pressure measurements in presence of plasma-induced interference for supersonic flow control applications

Narayanaswamy¹,

Clemens²,

Raja³

2011

Meas. Sci. Technol.

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The operation of pulsed-plasma actuators for flow control is often associated with the presence of charged species in the flow and severe electromagnetic interference with external circuitry. These effects can lead to time-resolved transducer pressure measurements that are contaminated with electromagnetic interference effects or even transducer damage due to the interaction with charged species. A new technique is developed that enables high-bandwidth pressure measurements to be made in the presence of such rapidly switched plasma actuators. The technique is applied for the specific configuration of a pulsed-plasma jet actuator (spark jet) that is used to control the unsteadiness of a shock wave/boundary layer interaction generated by a compression ramp in a Mach 3 flow. The critical component of the technique involves using a pulsed-ground electrode to drain the charged species from the plasma jet before they reach the pressure transducer. The pulsed-ground electrode was shown to drain charged species into the pulsed ground prior to interacting with the transducer, which made it possible to make measurements without damaging the transducer. The resulting signals were still contaminated by electromagnetic interference spikes and so a data-processing technique was used to remove the artifacts and recover a largely uncontaminated power spectrum. The signal processing scheme used interpolation schemes previously developed for laser Doppler velocimetry applications. The data-processing procedure is demonstrated with a benchmark case in which the electromagnetic interference was isolated from the pulsed-plasma jet actuation effect. It is shown that the data-processing procedure removed the contamination from the electromagnetic interference at all frequencies but for the pulsing frequency and its higher harmonics.

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A Critical Review of Electric and Electromagnetic Flow Control Research Applied to Aerodynamics

Cited by 14 publications

References 97 publications

On the performance of electrohydrodynamic propulsion

On the performance of electrohydrodynamic propulsion

Electrohydrodynamic thrust density using positive corona-induced ionic winds for in-atmosphere propulsion

Method for acquiring pressure measurements in presence of plasma-induced interference for supersonic flow control applications

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