Preliminary Experimental Study on Aerodynamic Characteristics Control of Slender Body Using DBD Plasma Actuator

Abstract

Asymmetric separation vortices over a slender body at a high angle of attack exert a strong side force on the body and lead to the loss of attitude stability. We investigated the active control of the separation flow over a slender body and addressed the proportional control of the side force and the pitching moment. A flow control experiment was conducted in a wind tunnel using a cone-cylinder test body and a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuator as a flow control device. The free-stream velocity was 9 m/s and the Reynolds number was approximately 42000. The side force coefficient was proportionally controlled within approximately ±1.0 using the actuator at the aft body, and the static stability angle of attack was controlled from 25 to 40 degrees and 65 to 85 degrees by controlling the pitching moment when the center of gravity was at the 55% position from the body apex. We estimated that a higher actuator output power is required for the effective control of the aerodynamics in a real flight. In addition, we confirmed that the actuator burst operation mode could reduce the required output power.