For hypersonic flow, it was found that the most effective plasma actuator is derived from an electromagnetic perturbation. An experimental study was performed between hypersonic flow and plasma aerodynamic actuation interaction in a hypersonic shock tunnel, in which a Mach number of 7 was reached. The plasma discharging characteristic was acquired in static flows. In a hypersonic flow, the flow field can affect the plasma discharging characteristics. DC discharging without magnetic force is unstable, and the discharge channel cannot be maintained. When there is a magnetic field, the energy consumption of the plasma source is approximately three to four times larger than that without a magnetic field, and at the same time plasma discharge can also affect the hypersonic flow field. Through schlieren pictures and pressure measurement, it was found that plasma discharging could induce shockwaves and change the total pressure and wall pressure of the flow field.
Plasma flow control（PFC） is a new kind of active flow control technology, which can improve the aerodynamic performances of aircrafts remarkably. The flow separation control of an unmanned air vehicle（UAV） by nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation（NDPAA） is investigated experimentally in this paper. Experimental results show that the applied voltages for both the nanosecond discharge and the millisecond discharge are nearly the same, but the current for nanosecond discharge（30 A） is much bigger than that for millisecond discharge（0.1 A）. The flow field induced by the NDPAA is similar to a shock wave upward, and has a maximal velocity of less than 0.5 m/s. Fast heating effect for nanosecond discharge induces shock waves in the quiescent air. The lasting time of the shock waves is about 80 μs and its spread velocity is nearly 380 m/s. By using the NDPAA, the flow separation on the suction side of the UAV can be totally suppressed and the critical stall angle of attack increases from 20° to 27° with a maximal lift coefficient increment of 11.24%. The flow separation can be suppressed when the discharge voltage is larger than the threshold value, and the optimum operation frequency for the NDPAA is the one which makes the Strouhal number equal one. The NDPAA is more effective than the millisecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation（MDPAA） in boundary layer flow control. The main mechanism for nanosecond discharge is shock effect. Shock effect is more effective in flow control than momentum effect in high speed flow control.
An experimental investigation on airfoil （NACA64-215） shock control is performed by plasma aerodynamic actuation in a supersonic tunnel （Ma -= 2）. The results of schlieren and pressure measurement show that when plasma aerodynamic actuation is applied, the position moves forward and the intensity of shock at the head of the airfoil weakens. With the increase in actuating voltage, the total pressure measured at the head of the airfoil increases, which means that the shock intensity decreases and the control effect increases. The best actuation effect is caused by upwind-direction actuation with a magnetic field, and then downwind-direction actuation with a magnetic field, while the control effect of aerodynamic actuation without a magnetic field is the most inconspicuous. The mean intensity of the normal shock at the head of the airfoil is relatively decreased by 16.33%, and the normal shock intensity is relatively reduced by 27.5% when 1000 V actuating voltage and upwind-direction actuation are applied with a magnetic field. This paper theoretically analyzes the Joule heating effect generated by DC discharge and the Lorentz force effect caused by the magnetic field. The discharge characteristics are compared for all kinds of actuation conditions to reveal the mechanism of shock control by plasma aerodynamic actuation.
This study demonstrates the potential for shock wave-boundary layer interaction control in air by plasma aerodynamic actuation.Experimental investigations on shock wave-boundary layer interactions control by plasma aerodynamic actuation are conducted in a Mach 3 in-draft air tunnel.Schlieren imaging shows that the discharges cause the oblique shock to move forward.Schlieren imaging and static pressure probes also show that separation phenomenon shifts backward and the size of separation is enlarged when plasma aerodynamic actuation is applied.The intensity of shock wave is weakened through wall pressure probe.Furthermore,numerical investigations on shock wave-boundary layer interactions control are conducted with plasma aerodynamic actuation.The discharge is modeled as a steady volumetric heat source which is integrated into the energy equation.The input energy level is about 7 kW through discharge process.Results show that the separation phenomenon shifts backward and the intensity of shock is reduced with plasma actuation.These numerical results are consistent with the experimental results.
SUN QuanLI YingHongCUI WeiCHENG BangQinLI JunDAI Hui
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 × 10^5-6.2× 10^5. 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 fre- quency. Moreover, the results of pitching moment coefficient indicated that the breakdown of lead- ing edge vortices could be delayed by plasma actuator at low pulsed frequencies.
Han MenghuLi JunNiu ZhongguoLiang HuaZhao GuangyinHua Weizhuo
According to the mechanism of the arc plasma heating effect,and from a phenomenological perspective of view,the plasma actuation was simplified as heating energy injected into the supersonic flow field for the numerical research on controlling detached shock of the blunt body in non-center symmetrical positions.Besides,experimental research on the form and strength of detached shock wave control by plasma aerodynamic actuation in non-center symmetrical positions was conducted in a high-speed shock tunnel(M=2).The results showed that the detached distance of shock wave increased and the strength of normal shock wave ahead of the detached shock wave reduced when plasma actuation was applied.The control effect was greatly improved after the magnetic field was applied and the effect of upwind-direction flow was the best one.When the upwind-direction flow was applied with 1000 V voltage actuation,the distance of detached shock wave would increase from 3.4 to 7.6 mm and the time average strength of normal shock wave was weaken by 5.5%.At last,the mechanism of plasma actuation on controlling the detached shock wave was briefly analyzed.
SUN QuanCHENG BangQinLI YingHongKONG WeiSongLI JunZHU YiFeiJIN Di
Experimental investigation of active flow control on the aerodynamic performance of a flying wing is conducted. Subsonic wind tunnel tests are performed using a model of a 35° swept flying wing with an nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge （NS-DBD） plasma actuator, which is installed symmetrically on the wing leading edge. The lift and drag coefficient, lift-to- drag ratio and pitching moment coefficient are tested by a six-component force balance for a range of angles of attack. The results indicate that a 44.5% increase in the lift coefficient, a 34.2% decrease in the drag coefficient and a 22.4% increase in the maximum lift-to-drag ratio can be achieved as compared with the baseline case. The effects of several actuation parameters are also investigated, and the results show that control efficiency demonstrates a strong dependence on actuation location and frequency. Furthermore, we highlight the use of distributed plasma actuators at the leading edge to enhance the aerodynamic performance, giving insight into the different mechanism of separation control and vortex control, which shows tremendous potential in practical flow control for a broad range of angles of attack.
