Effects of Magnetic Field Configuration on Ionic Wind Characteristics

Abstract

Ionic wind has been widely used in the fields of flow control, heat cooling, thruster, and so on. In this work, an investigation of ionic wind under different magnetic field configurations is processed. By changing the position relationship between the electrode and the magnetic field, the magnetic field configuration in the discharge region is modified. With the injection of different magnetic field configurations to the discharge region, the amplitude of Trichel pulse is decreased, and the pulse frequency is increased. Besides, the ionic wind velocities' distribution is deflected and the electrical-to-kinetic energy conversion efficiency is enhanced. The mechanism is analyzed by considering the movement path of particles in the ionization region and drift region under different magnetic field configurations. These results illustrate that the magnetic field configuration would be a method to adjust the direction and improve the electrical-to-kinetic energy conversion efficiency of ionic wind. This method provides a feasible way to regulate the performance of ionic wind without additional energy consumption.