Flow Structure Control Using Plasma Actuators

Abstract

In the last few years, achieving precise control over flow structures has become increasingly crucial in aeronautics, space engineering, and wind turbine optimization. This study simulated the effects of dielectric barrier discharge on undisturbed air for flow structure control by means of plasma actuators. The analysis involved examining the flowfield, potential distribution, charge density, and components of the velocity vector within the computational domain based on numerical simulation results. The investigation revealed that the maximum flow velocity, accelerated by the plasma actuator, reached 4.5 m/s with a corresponding flow opening angle of 11.3°. The study also explored the impact of dielectric barrier discharge on the flow around a cylinder with a plasma actuator in on/off states. The physical characteristics of the flow around a circular cylinder were identified for both switched-off and switched-on plasma actuators. Notably, the study demonstrated the efficacy of reducing the cylinder’s drag factor by suppressing the Karman vortex street through the operation of four plasma actuators based on dielectric barrier discharge. The obtained results exhibited good agreement with experimental data. The developed approach demonstrated high computational efficiency. Activation of the plasma actuators significantly reduced the drag factor for the cylinder from 1.2 to 0.1.