Propagation of an ion jet near a dielectric surface

Abstract

Difficulties in determining experimentally the local electrical parameters of unipolar-charged jets are arousing interest in the theoretical investigation of electrogasdynamic (EGD) flows. Free EGD jets were examined, for example, in [1–3]. In order to control the charge on the dielectric parts of aircraft surfaces, which results from their static electrification and may have certain negative consequences [4], and, moreover, to influence the flow in the boundary layer use is being made of unipolar-charged jets propagating near the dielectric [5, 6]. In [6] the case of an ion jet near a dielectric surface possessing surface conductivity was investigated. In these circumstances it is possible to neglect charge diffusion, which considerably simplifies the problem. Space charge diffusion was taken into account in [7], but subject to certain very important simplifications. The author has calculated the electrical parameters of a unipolar-charged jet propagating in a viscous incompressible gas near an ideal dielectric plate, with allowance for surface and polarization charges and, moreover, the diffusion processes near the surface. An asymptotic solution is obtained for the equations of the ionic diffusion layer as the ratio of the thickness of the diffusion layer to the thickness of the hydrodynamic boundary layer tends to zero.