Nanosecond Pulsed Surface Dielectric Barrier Research Articles

Investigation of the electrode surface geometry effects driven by nanosecond-pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge

Nanosecond-pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (NS-DBD) plasma actuations with powered electrodes of different surface geometries were investigated numerically by solving the coupled plasma discharge equations, electron energy equations and the Navier–Stokes equations in quiescent air at atmospheric pressure. The plasma discharge characteristics and the air flow features were simulated numerically using a simple chemical kinetics plasma model for three powered electrodes with serrated, rectangular and semicircular surfaces, respectively. The results show that the reduced electric field of the serrated electrode is globally the strongest, while that of the rectangular electrode the second strongest, and that of the semicircular electrode the weakest. The maximum values of the reduced electric field, the mean electron energy and the electron density are found to occur immediately near the right upper tips of the powered electrodes, and the streamers of the mean electron energy and electron density in the serrated electrode case are larger in size and higher in value than in the rectangular and semicircular electrode cases. On the other hand, the pressure wave in the serrated electrode case is more intensive, and propagates slightly faster than in the other two electrode cases. Besides, the heated region in the serrated electrode case is greater with a higher temperature than in the other two electrode cases. The comparison results indicate that the performance of NS-DBD plasma actuators depends significantly on the powered electrode surface geometry, and the serrated surface design is a very promising means of flow control.

The discharge characteristics of surface dielectric barrier discharge sustained by repetitive nanosecond pulses in open air

A nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (NPSDBD) is a promising method for flow control and combustion. We systematically investigated the influence of pulse parameters on the discharge characteristics of NPSDBD, especially on the conduction current of discharge and the energy deposition curves. Meanwhile, the differences of the characteristics of the discharge generated by positive pulses and negative pulses are focused in this paper. The underlying physics is also discussed. Four different discharge regimes of NPSDBD are presented, which can be distinguished by the temporal emission behaviors of discharge and the conduction current of discharge. The transitions of four discharge regimes were also investigated by changing the pulse amplitude, repetitive rate, and voltage polarity. It was found that it is easier to translate quasi-uniform discharge to filamentary discharge or transition mode for the repetitive pulses with a negative polarity. A phenomenological model was proposed to explain the differences between a positive repetitive pulse discharge and a negative repetitive pulse discharge.

OES characterization of streamers in a nanosecond pulsed SDBD using N2 and Ar transitions

The characterization of non-thermal homogeneous plasmas is possible using optical emission spectroscopy (OES), notably by estimating the reduced electric field. This method was applied to characterize streamers generated by a nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) operated in quiescent air at atmospheric pressure and also at 0.5 atm. The average reduced electric field associated with the surface streamers was determined using four different sets of transitions occurring in air plasmas, the first negative system (FNS) of , the first positive system (FPS) and second positive system (SPS) of and argon transitions . The analysis of the results allowed to critically assess the validity of the estimated reduced electric field for the present conditions. It is shown experimentally that the inhomogeneous nature of the streamer head influences significantly the estimation of the reduced electric field. Moreover, the estimated reduced electric field is not sufficient to characterize the processes taking place in the streamer head, due to the steep variation of both the reduced electric field E/N and the electron density ne in space and time. To overcome this limitation, a new method is proposed to take into account the spatial structure of a streamer head. The applicability of the new method is demonstrated for these experimental conditions and shows a very good agreement for the transitions tested.

A novel method of calculating the energy deposition curve of nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge

To obtain the energy deposition curve is very important in the fields to which nanosecond pulse dielectric barrier discharges (NPDBDs) are applied. It helps the understanding of the discharge physics and fast gas heating. In this paper, an equivalent circuit model, composed of three capacitances, is introduced and a method of calculating the energy deposition curve is proposed for a nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge (NPSDBD) plasma actuator. The capacitance Cd and the energy deposition curve ER are determined by mathematically proving that the mapping from Cd to ER is bijective and numerically searching one Cd that satisfies the requirement for ER to be a monotonically non-decreasing function. It is found that the value of capacitance Cd varies with the amplitude of applied pulse voltage due to the change of discharge area and is dependent on the polarity of applied voltage. The bijectiveness of the mapping from Cd to ER in nanosecond pulse volumetric dielectric barrier discharge (NPVDBD) is demonstrated and the feasibility of the application of the new method to NPVDBD is validated. This preliminarily shows a high possibility of developing a unified approach to calculate the energy deposition curve in NPDBD.

Control of vortex on a non-slender delta wing by a nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge

Wind tunnel experiments are conducted for improving the aerodynamic performance of delta wing using a leading-edge pulsed nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge (NS-DBD). The whole effects of pulsed NS-DBD on the aerodynamic performance of the delta wing are studied by balanced force measurements. Pressure measurements and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are conducted to investigate the formation of leading-edge vortices affected by the pulsed NS-DBD, compared to completely stalled flow without actuation. Various pulsed actuation frequencies of the plasma actuator are examined with the freestream velocity up to 50 m/s. Stall has been delayed substantially and significant shifts in the aerodynamic forces can be achieved at the post-stall regions when the actuator works at the optimum reduced frequency of F + = 2. The upper surface pressure measurements show that the largest change of static pressure occurs at the forward part of the wing at the stall region. The time-averaged flow pattern obtained from the PIV measurement shows that flow reattachment is promoted with excitation, and a vortex flow pattern develops. The time-averaged locations of the secondary separation line and the center of the vortical region both move outboard with excitation.

Capacitances and energy deposition curve of nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator.

Nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge (NPSDBD) plasma actuator is preferred to generate aerodynamic actuation which relies on the deposited energy during nanosecond time scale, named as the mechanism of fast thermalization. It is very important to understand the energy deposition process of NPSDBD plasma actuator. In this paper, an equivalent circuit model is presented to describe a typical asymmetric NPSDBD plasma actuator first. Of the three key capacitances in the equivalent circuit, the values of Capacitance C(m) and C(g) can be gotten by the calculation of the electric field, with the method of undetermined coefficients, while the value of Capacitance C(d) is determined from the charge-voltage (Q-V) plot, also called Lissajous figure. It is found that the value of Capacitance C(d) varies with the amplitude of applied pulse voltage, due to the change of the dimension of plasma sheet. Based on the circuit parameters and the measured waveforms of discharge voltage and current, the time varying characteristics of deposited energy can be obtained finally. It is indicated that the calculated results of deposited energy show a good agreement with conventional method.

Time behaviour of discharge current in case of nanosecond-pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge

Nanosecond-pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge is a promising method used for airflow control application. In our letter, atmospheric-pressure plasmas in open air are produced in a configuration of discharge actuators by repetitive nanosecond pulses. The electrical parameters including applied voltage, total discharge current, and transported charge are measured and analysed, especially it is aimed at the time behaviour of the total discharge current. Experimental results show that the total discharge current pulse includes two obvious spikes during the rise time of the applied pulse voltage. According to the simulation, it is concluded that the first current spike is due to the discharge propagation in the form of wave ionization and displacement current. The second current spike is caused by the repeated re-ignition of the surface dielectric barrier discharge on the area covered previously by the wave ionization.

Numerical simulation on a nanosecond-pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge actuator in near space

Lift-enhancement–drag-reduction technology is strongly required by near-space vehicles with low Reynolds number. It is known that a flow control method by a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) plasma can play an important role in this field. In order to obtain the discharge characteristics and evaluate the flow control effect of a SDBD actuator, the nanosecond-pulse discharge and induced flow field by the SDBD plasma are simulated at various altitudes using discharge-aerodynamics models. The results show that the ignition voltage decreases with altitude and it is very easy to discharge in near space. Compared with a SDBD at ground level, the plasma is produced on both sides of the exposed electrode and distributes more uniformly in near space. Although the body force generated by the SDBD actuator is less effective in inducing a jet with nanosecond-pulse excitation than that with alternating voltage excitation, the induced jet by body force is with longer extent, thicker profile and higher velocity in near space than at ground level. The plasma bulk heating should be taken into account for nanosecond-pulse excitation. The Joule heating of electrons is the main source of plasma bulk heating which acts as a micro-explosion and mainly induces pressure perturbation. The discharge at ground level is like a ‘point explosion’, but a ‘region explosion’ in near space, which indicates a diffuse distribution of energy, should be responsible for the fact that the effect of bulk heating is reduced in near space.

纳秒脉冲表面介质阻挡放电特性实验研究

The characteristics of nanosecond-pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD)are investigated in air at atmospheric pressure with the domestic repetitive unipolar nanosecond-pulse generator， the characteristic of surface DBD is investigated in this paper. It is found that nanosecond-pulse surface DBD is a filamentary discharge in essence. The discharge happens during the rising time of the applied voltage pulse. Higher applied voltage and Higher repetitive frequency lead to intenser and more uniform discharge. Voltage amplitudeaffects the discharge uniformity more， while pulse repetition frequency affects the discharge intensity more. There is an optimum electrode gap width to get the best electrical characteristics of surface DBD. Moreover， surface flashover is prone to happen when glass is chosen as dielectric barrier.

Mach 5 bow shock control by a nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge

Bow shock perturbations in a Mach 5 air flow, produced by low-temperature, nanosecond pulse, and surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), are detected by phase-locked schlieren imaging. A diffuse nanosecond pulse discharge is generated in a DBD plasma actuator on a surface of a cylinder model placed in air flow in a small scale blow-down supersonic wind tunnel. Discharge energy coupled to the actuator is 7.3–7.8 mJ/pulse. Plasma temperature inferred from nitrogen emission spectra is a few tens of degrees higher than flow stagnation temperature, T = 340 ± 30 K. Phase-locked Schlieren images are used to detect compression waves generated by individual nanosecond discharge pulses near the actuator surface. The compression wave propagates upstream toward the baseline bow shock standing in front of the cylinder model. Interaction of the compression wave and the bow shock causes its displacement in the upstream direction, increasing shock stand-off distance by up to 25%. The compression wave speed behind the bow shock and the perturbed bow shock velocity are inferred from the Schlieren images. The effect of compression waves generated by nanosecond discharge pulses on shock stand-off distance is demonstrated in a single-pulse regime (at pulse repetition rates of a few hundred Hz) and in a quasi-continuous mode (using a two-pulse sequence at a pulse repetition rate of 100 kHz). The results demonstrate feasibility of hypersonic flow control by low-temperature, repetitive nanosecond pulse discharges.

Modeling and comparison of sinusoidal and nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharges for flow control

Surface dielectric barrier discharges have been proposed as means of airflow actuation. A simplified air plasma model fully coupled with gas dynamics is presented and solved numerically using asynchronous mesh adaptation and time integration. Two modes of actuation depending on the driving voltage waveform are presented and analyzed. The first one uses high-voltage sine waveform in the kilohertz frequency range to transfer momentum from ions to gas molecules. The second one uses high-voltage nanosecond pulses to transfer energy to the neutral gas on a short time scale thus generating shockwaves.

SDBD plasma actuator with nanosecond pulse-periodic discharge

This paper presents a detailed explanation of the physical mechanism of the nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) effect on the flow. Actuator-induced gas velocities show near-zero values for nanosecond pulses. The measurements performed show overheating in the discharge region on fast (τ ≃ 1 µs) thermalization of the plasma input energy. The mean values of such heating of the plasma layer can reach 70 K, 200 K and even 400 K for 7 ns, 12 ns and 50 ns pulse durations, respectively. The emerging shock wave together with the secondary vortex flows disturbs the main flow. The resulting pulsed-periodic disturbance causes an efficient transversal momentum transfer into the boundary layer and further flow attachment to the airfoil surface. Thus, for periodic pulsed nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge, the main mechanism of impact is the energy transfer and heating of the near-surface gas layer. The following pulse-periodic vortex movement stimulates redistribution of the main flow momentum.