Large eddy simulation study on drag reduction performance of array-based plasma synthetic jet actuators

Large Eddy Simulation(LES)is first used to investigate the drag reduction effect of an array-based configuration of Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuators(PSJAs)on a hemisphere in supersonic inflow,and analyze the effect of energy allocation and array angle on the drag reduction performance of opposing Plasma Synthetic Jet(PSJ)in this paper.Numerical simulation results have been compared with experimental data,confirming the validity of the simulation method.The results show that different energy allocations have a significant effect on the drag of the hemisphere.However,the effect of the change in array angle on the drag of the hemisphere is not as noticeable as the effect caused by energy allocation.Interference regions between the two PSJAs occur,which undermine the effectiveness of drag reduction.High Turbulent Kinetic Energy(TKE)regions primarily concentrate on the core region of the jet and downstream of the bow shock.The influence of the array angle on TKE is most evident in the downstream region of the exits of the PSJs on both sides.Temporal evolution of the coherent structures reveals that as the PSJ intensity decreases,the largescale vortices progressively break up into smaller-scale vortices,and energy is also transferred from large-scale structures to small-scale structures.

Flight control of a flying wing aircraft based on circulation control using synthetic jet actuators

To achieve the nice stealth performance and aerodynamic maneuverability of a Flying Wing Aircraft(FWA),a longitudinal aerodynamic control technology based on circulation control using trailing-edge synthetic jet actuators was proposed without the movement of rudders.Effects on the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of a small-sweep FWA were investigated.Then,flight tests were carried out to verify the control abilities,providing a novel technology for the design of a future rudderless FWA.Results show that synthetic jets could narrow the dead zone area,improve the flow velocity near the trailing edge,and then move the trailing-edge separation point and the leading-edge stagnation point downwards,which make the effective Attack of Angle(AOA)increase,thereby enhancing the pressure envelope area.Circulation control based on synthetic jets could improve the lift,drag and nose-down moment.The variations of lift and nosedown moment decrease with the growth of AOA caused by the improved reverse pressure gradient and the weakened circulation control efficiency.Finally,synthetic jet actuators were integrated into the trailing edge of a small-sweep FWA,which could realize the roll and pitch control without deflections of rudders during the cruise stage,and the maximum roll and pitch angular velocity are 12.64(°)/s and 8.51(°)/s,respectively.

Trailing-edge shock loss control with self-sustaining synthetic jet in a supersonic compressor cascade

To effectively reduce the loss of strong shock wave at the trailing edge of the supersonic cascade under high backpressure,a shock wave control method based on self-sustaining synthetic jet was proposed.The self-sustaining synthetic jet was applied on the pressure side of the blade with the blow slot and the bleed slot arranged upstream and downstream of the trailing-edge shock,respectively.The flow control mechanism and effects of parameters were investigated by numerical simulation.The results show that the self-sustaining synthetic jet forms an oblique shock wave in the cascade passage which slows down and pressurizes the airflow,and the expansion wave downstream of the blow slot weakens the shock strength which can effectively change the Mach reflection to regular reflection and thus weaken the shock loss.And the suction effect can reduce loss near blade surface.Compared with the baseline cascade,the self-sustaining jet actuator can reduce flow losses by 6.73%with proper location design and vibration of diaphragm.

Experimental and numerical investigation on opposing plasma synthetic jet for drag reduction

Experimental and numerical studies are carried out to validate the potential of opposing Plasma Synthetic Jet(PSJ)for drag reduction for a hemisphere.Firstly,flow field changes of opposing PSJ are analyzed by comparing the experimental schlieren images and simulation results in a supersonic free stream of Mach number 3.As PSJ is a kind of unsteady pulsed jet,the shock standoff distance increases initially and then decreases under the control of PSJ,which corresponds to the change of the strength of PSJ.Accordingly,the amount of drag reduction of the hemisphere increases initially and then decreases.It is found that there is a short period of“drag rise”during the formation of PSJ before the drag reduction,which is induced by the generation of normal shock waves and the area difference of the cavity wall of PSJ Actuator(PSJA).Secondly,the effects of five parameters,including exit diameter,discharge energy of PSJA,Mach number,static pressure of incoming flow and angle of attack,on drag reduction of opposing PSJ were studied in detail by using numerical method.It is found that the Maximum Pressure Ratio(MPR)has a significant impact on the average drag reduction for a configuration-determined PSJA.For the configuration selected in this study,the flow field of opposing PSJ shows typical Short Penetration Mode(SPM)in a control cycle of PSJ when the MPR is less than 0.89.However,the flow field shows typical Long Penetration Mode(LPM)at some time when the MPR is bigger than 0.89.Relatively better drag reduction is achieved in this case.

Experimental investigation on ice-breaking performance of a novel plasma striker

Aircraft icing has long been a plague to aviation for its serious threat to flight safety.Recently,researches about a newly proposed deicing method based on Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator(PSJA)have just started.To meet the requirements of in-flight deicing,structure of PSJA needs to be adjusted.This paper completed the detailed design and experimental validation of a novel plasma striker,which was a modified version of PSJA.Influences of mass of the moving part and rod shapes on the ice-breaking performances were also studied.Besides,a“conical-nosed rod configuration”was proposed.Its purpose was to ensure a good ice-breaking performance of the plasma striker on long ice,by generating a splitting failure.Results show that,though mass of the moving part was just several grams,ice-breaking performance was better when the mass was lighter.The rectangular rod could generate an elliptical circumferential crack,whose major axis was parallel to the direction of the long side of the rectangular rod.And the“conical-nosed rod”concept was verified to be able to generate a splitting crack which can spread completely to the far end of long ice,and the crack direction was parallel to edge line of the cone.In general,the plasma striker has the advantages of simple structure,low energy consumption,little harm to the flow field and the aircraft skin.Simulations will be carried out in future works to study in detail the working process of the plasma striker.

Novel lift enhancement method based on zero-mass-flux jets and its adaptive controlling laws design

For lessening the weight and volume of flow control system,enlarging the circulation control applying area of angle of attack(AOA),and achieving nice controlling characteristics,a novel lift enhancement method based on dual synthetic jet actuators(DSJAs)and synthetic jet actuator(SJA),and an adaptive proportional integral and differential(PID)algorithm based on radial basis function neural network are introduced.DSJAs are uniformly located along the chord to suppress the separation and trailing-edge SJA is applied to achieve the high circulation.Velocities of actuators are modulated to realize the real speed profile and on–off controlling laws of DSJAs are designed.Numerical simulations show that DSJAs and SJA could suppress the separation completely and move leading-edge stagnation point and trailing-edge separation point downstream even at AOA of 19°,hence achieve the highest lift and nose-down moment augmentation(ΔCl_(max)=0.92,ΔCm_(max)=0.02534),andΔL/D can reach 11.39 at AOA of 18°.Stalling is delayed to more than 19°.Linear lift area and pitch-break angle are both increased to 16°.ΔCl/C_(μ) can reach 76.7,indicating the greatest control efficiency.The results of adaptive PID control,whose controlling effects are proved better than PID,indicate that lift could track the objective with the rise time of 0.0325 s and finally keep steady,suggesting the nice stability and rapidness.

Ion beam figuring of continuous phase plates based on the frequency filtering process

Ion beam figuring （IBF） technology is an effective technique for fabricating continuous phase plates （CPPs） with small feature structures. This study proposes a multi-pass IBF approach with different beam diameters based on the frequency filtering method to improve the machining accuracy and efficiency of CPPs during IBF. We present the selection principle of the frequency filtering method, which incorporates different removal functions that maximize material removal over the topographical frequencies being imprinted. Large removal functions are used early in the fabrication to figure the surface profile with low frequency. Small removal functions are used to perform final topographical correction with higher fre- quency and larger surface gradient. A high-precision surface can be obtained as long as the filtering frequency is suitably selected. This method maximizes the high removal efficiency of the large removal function and the high corrective capability of the small removal function. Consequently, the fast convergence of the machining accuracy and efficiency can be achieved.