Plasma synthetic jet actuator array driven by a programmable triggered Marx high-voltage generator

Abstract

A plasma synthetic jet (PSJ) actuator array driven by a self-triggered Marx high-voltage generator can simultaneously actuate multichannel PSJ actuators to form jet arrays; however, the discharge frequency cannot be controlled by programmable electrical signals. To address this, programmable high-voltage pulses are used to trigger a Marx high-voltage generator and regulate the discharge frequency of the PSJ actuator array. The electrode gap range for achieving a programmable triggered discharge is determined, and typical discharge images and basic discharge characteristics are obtained. The effects of trigger frequency and voltage amplitude on the discharge frequency are studied. The high-speed Schlieren technique is used to obtain flow-field characteristics of five-channel PSJ actuators under a programmable triggered state. The programmable triggered Marx high-voltage generator can achieve programmable control of the discharge frequency with an approximate linear control range of 10–30 Hz and a nonlinear saturation range of 30–100 Hz. In the approximate linear control range, the discharge frequency increases almost linearly with trigger frequency under different trigger voltage amplitudes. One of the channels of the five-channel synthetic jet actuators achieves the highest jet height and speed of 70 m/s, while those of the others are similar but slightly lower. There is no significant decrease in the jet height or speed of the five-channel PSJ actuators with the increase in the trigger frequency, which is beneficial for flow-control applications.