Characterization and manipulation of the “saturation” effect by changing the surface temperature of a dielectric barrier discharge actuator

Abstract

The thrust produced by a sinusoidally driven dielectric barrier discharge actuator in quiescent air is known to increase with a power law of the applied voltage. For voltages greater than a threshold, the exponent of the power law reduces limiting the thrust increase and the actuator is said to have “saturated,” limiting the actuator's usefulness. The onset of saturation is visually correlated by the inception of filamentary discharge events. In this letter, the flow transition to the saturation condition is characterized. Furthermore, the saturation effect can be manipulated by changing the local surface temperature of the dielectric.