Basic Study on the Voltage Characteristic of Dual-Grounded Tri-Electrode Plasma Actuator by Plasma Simulation

Abstract

Recently, dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator (DBDPA) is actively researched as an active flow control devices. However, the induced flow is too slow to be installed on the aerodynamic bodies to control a high-speed flow. To this problem, DualGrounded Tri-Electrode plasma actuator (DGTEPA) was suggested as a solution which can make stronger flow with better efficiency. So in this research, we investigate the discharge structure and body force field of the conventional DBDPA and the DGTEPA by a plasma simulation to clarify the mechanism that the DGTEPA gains its performance. First, we evaluated the validity of the simulation results. Although there are some quantitative and qualitative discrepancies, we confirmed they are almost qualitatively in agreement with the experiments. Second, we discussed about the distribution of the plasma density and confirmed that there is another discharge occurs near the third electrode of the DGTEPA. In addition, when the third electrode is close enough to the AC electrode edge, the plasma near the third electrode is supplied to the near region of the AC electrode edge. Last of all, we examined the body force distribution and we found there are strong body force regions in where the high density plasma exists. Also when the third electrode is close enough to the AC electrode edge, the body force is drastically enhanced because of the expansion of a discharge region near the AC electrode edge. NomenclatureD e , D p , D n e = elementary charge = diffusion coefficient for electron, positive ion and negative ion E f = body force vector = electric field vector j e , j p , j n r = electron, positive ion and negative ion number density ep r = recombination coefficient between electron and positive ion pn t = time = recombination coefficient between positive ion and negative ion p = ambient pressure v e α = ionization coefficient = mean velocity of electron ε 0 , ε r γ = secondary electron emission coefficient = electric permittivity in the vacuum and relative electric permittivity of the dielectric μe, μp, μn = time index during navigation η = attachment coefficient σ = surface charge density 1 Student of Master Course, 2-24-16, Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8588, JAPAN, Mechanical System Engineering, Student Member AIAA.

Numerical study of the characteristics of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator

“…These eddies significantly change the dynamic properties, such as drag force, in the boundary layer. They are also a major source of energy loss in DBD [45], and by reducing eddies and vortices with an optimal voltage waveform, the efficiency of DBD can be improved as shown in [46,47].…”