Plasma synthetic jet actuator: electrical and optical analysis of the discharge

Abstract

Active flow control is based on the development of robust actuators which are reliable, small and easy to integrate. A promising actuator referred to as plasma synthetic jet actuator produces a synthetic jet with high exhaust velocities and holds the promise of enabling high-speed flows. With this high velocity jet, it is possible to reduce fluid phenomena such as transition and turbulence, thus making it possible to increase an aircraft's performance whilst at the same time reducing its environmental impact. This high velocity jet is produced by a pulsed discharge in a microcavity. In this paper, we focus on the properties of the discharge in order to understand the functioning of the actuator. In the first part an electrical description of the discharge in presented. Afterwards, optical measurements (optical emission spectroscopy and ICCD photograph) enable the determination of temperature, volume and duration of the discharge. At the end of the paper we present an electrical model of the discharge, which can be obtained both from electrical measurements and from macroscopic properties of the discharge (temperature, volume). This electrical model can easily be included in electrical simulation software.