Multichannel Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator Driven by Marx High-Voltage Generator

Abstract

The plasma synthetic jet (PSJ) is a high-energy synthetic jet that is excited by gas spark discharging plasma in an active flow-control area. Because achieving large-scale flow-control applications is impossible with only one high-voltage power supply, a multichannel PSJ actuator (PSJA) driven by a four-stage Marx high-voltage generator (Marx-generator plasma synthetic jet [MPSJ]) was designed, and its basic discharge characteristics and jet performance were determined. In this study, discharge images were captured, discharge voltages and currents of five discharge channels were measured, and discharge frequencies were analyzed theoretically. Lastly, the jet performance of the multichannel actuators was studied at different discharge frequencies via high-speed schlieren imaging. The results show that the MPSJ can discharge in a synchronized manner to excite the multichannel PSJAs repeatedly. In the breakdown process, the discharge voltage can be multiplied by the MPSJ. The discharge frequency calculated via the theoretical model was near the measured value at low discharge frequencies. The jet intensity of the last-stage actuator was the strongest because its discharge voltage was the highest. The discharge frequency can affect the jet start time but has little negative effect on the jet front speed, which is beneficial for MPSJ applications in active flow control.