Abstract
We propose and demonstrate reduction of aerodynamic drag for a realistic geometry at highway speeds using serpentine dielectric barrier discharge actuators. A comparable linear plasma actuator fails to reduce the drag at these speeds. Experimental data collected for linear and serpentine plasma actuators under quiescent operating conditions show that the serpentine design has profound effect on near wall flow structure and resulting drag. For certain actuator arrangement, the measured drag reduced by over 14% at 26.8 m/s (60 mph) and over 10% at 31.3 m/s (70 mph) opening up realistic possibility of reasonable energy savings for full scale ground vehicles. In addition, the power consumption data and drag reduction effectiveness for different input signals are also presented.
Highlights
The presence of aerodynamic drag limits the fluid dynamic performance of any vehicle
We introduce the serpentine class of dielectric barrier discharge actuator[12,13,14,15] for effectively modifying aerodynamic drag for three-dimensional vehicle geometry
We demonstrated reduction of aerodynamic drag for a scaled tractor-trailer model at 60 mph and 70 mph using serpentine dielectric barrier discharge actuator
Summary
The presence of aerodynamic drag limits the fluid dynamic performance of any vehicle. The aerodynamic drag may comprise upwards of 50%, 65% and 70% of the total drag for commercial air vehicles, heavy highway vehicles and high speed trains, respectively.[1] any method for reducing this drag, including but not limited to controlling surface receptivity and fluidic actuation, can have profound influence in transportation applications.[2] Ever since its first reported success,[3] plasma actuators have been extensively investigated for improving authority of flow control but with limited success due to their inherent near wall momentum/heat injection method. Efforts have been invested in influencing the drag, turbulent drag, using plasma actuators.[4]
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