Analytical model for corona discharge-based electrohydrodynamic plasma actuator incorporating environmental conditions

Abstract

The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) actuator system, which produces thrust by ionizing a gas and accelerating it, is a novel propulsion system for near space vehicles. In this paper, an analytical model for EHD actuators, called EHD-AM, has been presented to estimate the thrust produced by the actuators in a wire-to-cylinder configuration. Experimental data from six previous studies have been used to validate the model and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) between each configuration and EHD-AM has been calculated under different environmental conditions. Based on the evaluations, the MAPE between EHD-AM and the experimental results for different pressures and wire-to-airfoil structures is 7.18% and 6.16%, respectively. The MAPE between EHD-AM and the experimental data measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) method and with conventional experimental setups is 10.59% and 6.76%, respectively. Based on the EHD-AM, at a constant voltage, the relation between thrust and pressure has a local minimum and a local maximum point in the range of 0.05–1 atm. From 0.05 atm to 0.5 atm, as the pressure increases, the thrust decreases and then increases. As the pressure increases from 0.5 to 1 atm, the thrust decreases. In addition, a higher voltage can result in a higher pressure at which thrust is maximized. Furthermore, the generated thrust is monotonically increasing as the voltage amplitude increases. By implementation of EHD-AM thrust scale in a simple numerical model, the thrust generated by the actuator has been computed and simulated numerically. Initially, the numerical model was verified using experimental results from a previous study. The MAPE between the numerical model and the EHD-AM is 24.08%. Finally, when the interelectrode gap, the collector radius and the emitter radius are relatively large, the thrust of the actuator is predicted by EHD-AM and compared with the numerical results. EHD-AM can be used in the design and optimization of EHD actuators, and also for controller design and related analyses in a control system.