Experimental Study on Anti-Icing Performance of NS-DBD Plasma Actuator

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the anti-icing performance of NS-DBD plasma actuator under the conditions of airflow speed U = 65 m/s, ambient temperature T = −10 °C, liquid water content LWC = 0.5 g/m3, mean-volume diameter MVD = 25 μm, mainly to clarify the effect of pulse frequency and voltage amplitude of actuation on anti-icing performance. A NACA0012 airfoil model with a chord length of c = 280 mm was used in the tests. The NS-DBD plasma actuator was mounted at the front part of the airfoil. A FLIR infrared (IR) imager and CCD camera were used to record the anti-icing process of the NS-DBD plasma actuator. Two typical discharge conditions were selected for the anti-icing experiments. The first was HV-LF discharge, corresponding to discharge under higher voltage amplitude with lower pulse frequency; the second was LV-HF discharge, corresponding to discharge under lower voltage amplitude with higher pulse frequency. Results reveal that NS-DBD is a very promising method for anti-icing. With the same power consumption, the LV-HF discharge shows a better anti-icing performance compared to HV-LF discharge under the same icing conditions. In view of pulse duration and duty circle, combined with heat dissipation, it is suggested that there is a threshold frequency, corresponding to the voltage amplitude of electric actuation signal and the incoming flow condition, to achieve effective anti-icing performance.

Icing Mitigation by MEMS-Fabricated Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge

“…Whereas the related topic of plasma actuators (PA) for flow control applications is widely studied [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], there is recently a growing interest in the study of surface dielectric barrier discharges (SDBDs) as an anti-icing and de-icing system [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Probably Meng et al [24] and Cai Jinsheng et al [21] were the first who reported experimental results indicating that SDBDs can work as an anti/de-icing system.…”

Surface temperature characterization of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator in quiescent air

“…In recent years, the DBDPA has attracted significant attention in thermo-fluid engineering [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. The enhancement of convective heat transfer using ionic wind for high-temperature wall cooling has been shown to be promising [16][17][18][19].…”

From Extremely Water-Repellent Coatings to Passive Icing Protection—Principles, Limitations and Innovative Application Aspects

“…Furthermore, electro-thermal systems require in general materials with high thermal conductivity, which is inapplicable to the new generation erosion resistant polymers [58]. Another option for active icing protection is via mechanical vibrations excited through ultrasonic, piezoelectric or dielectric actuators [59][60][61][62]. Despite of consuming less energy, the efficiency of mechanical approach is highly restricted due to insurmountable inherent energy losses in the actuator, reducing the amplitude of mechanical oscillations applied to destroy the ice bonds.…”