Modeling and simulation of plasma gas flow driven by a single nanosecond-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge

Abstract

A simplified (7 species and 9 processes) plasma kinetic model is proposed to investigate the mechanism of the plasma aerodynamic actuation driven by nanosecond-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (NS-DBD). The governing equations include conservation equations for each species, the Poisson equation for the electric potential, and Navier-Stokes equations for the gas dynamic flow. Numerical simulations of plasma discharge and flow actuation on NS-DBD plasma actuators have been carried out. Key discharge characteristics and the responses of the quiescent air were reproduced and compared to those obtained in experiments and numerical simulations. Results demonstrate that the reduced plasma kinetic model is able to capture the dominant species and reactions to predict the actuation in complicated hydrodynamics. For the one-dimensional planar and two-dimensional symmetric NS-DBD, the forming of the sheath collapse is mainly due to the charge accumulation and secondary emission from the grounded electrode. Rapid species number density rise and electric field drop occur at the edge of the plasma sheath, where the space charge density gradient peaks. For the aerodynamic actuation with typical asymmetry electrodes, discharge characteristics have a core area on the right edge of the upper electrode, where the value can be much higher. The formation and propagation of the compression waves generated through rapid heating have also been performed and compared to those measured in a recent experiment. Energy release leads to gas expansion and forms a cylindrical shock wave, centering at the upper electrode tip with low gas acceleration. For the present single pulsed 12 kV case, the mean temperature of gas heating reaches about 575 K at 1 μs and decreases to about 460 K at 10 μs.