Computational and experimental analysis of flow structures induced by a plasma actuator with burst modulations in quiescent air

Abstract

Characteristics of flow fields produced by a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator in quiescent air are numerically investigated. A time-dependent localized body-force distribution is utilized to mimic the effect of the plasma actuator with modulated bursts. The computed time-averaged and instantaneous flow fields are compared with the experimental results by using high-speed schlieren photography and particle image velocimetry. The computed flow fields are in good agreement with the experimental results when the nondimensional parameter (Dc) is within the appropriate range. With an appropriate choice of Dc, the location and size of the induced flow structures, computed with respect to the maximum flow velocity parallel to the wall, are quantitatively in agreement with the experimental results. Also considered are the effects of the burst frequency (non-dimensionalized by the chord length and the free-stream velocity of assumed separated flow control experiment) on the induced flow. The results show that changes in the burst frequency cause insignificant changes in the magnitude of the time-averaged flow parallel to the wall, but they cause significant fluctuations in the amplitude and power spectral densities of that flow.

Keywords

• computational fluid dynamics (cfd)
• experimental fluid dynamics (efd)
• control of flow
• dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator
• induced flow