Micro-plasma actuator mechanisms in interaction with fluid flow for wind energy applications: Physical parameters

Abstract

Plasma actuator is a flow control device to improve the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blades at low airspeeds. One of the most robust numerical models for simulation of plasma actuator interaction with the fluid flow is the electrostatic model. This model is improved recently and is extensively verified by the authors. Due to the high cost of performing experimental optimizations, the optimized geometrical dimensions and materials of a plasma actuator may be sought by this numerical model. The aim of the present study is the aerodynamic enhancement of a DU21 wind turbine blade airfoil in which the effect of geometric parameters and the dielectric material is examined separately. The examined parameters include the dielectric thickness and material, the electrode thickness, and the embedded electrode length. This study shows that for performance improvement, there is a certain limit for each parameter. The length of the embedded electrode and the dielectric permittivity have a maximum limit, after which increasing the values of these parameters does not significantly affect the performance of the actuator. The increase in both the electrode thickness and the dielectric thickness reduces the effect of the actuator, and after increasing to a certain extent, no significant extra effect on the actuator performance is seen. These results also show that the improved electrostatic model can be used as a powerful tool to model the effects of different parameters to find an optimum blade design.