Analysis of flow separation control using nanosecond-pulse discharge plasma actuators on a flying wing

Dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） plasma is one of most promising flow control method for its several advantages. The present work investigates the control authority of nanosecond pulse DBD plasma actuators on a flying wing model＇s aerodynamic characteristics. The aerodynamic forces and moments are studied by means of experiment and numerical simulation. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with experiment results. Both results indicate that the NS-DBD plasma actuators have negligible effect on aerodynamic forces and moment at the angles of attack smaller than 16-. However, significant changes can be achieved with actuation when the model＇s angle of attack is larger than 16° where the flow separation occurs. The spatial flow field structure results from numerical simulation suggest that the volumetric heat produced by NS-DBD plasma actuator changes the local temperature and density and induces several vortex structures, which strengthen the mixing of the shear layer with the main flow and delay separation or even reattach the separated flow.

Optimum Duty Cycle of Unsteady Plasma Aerodynamic Actuation for NACA0015 Airfoil Stall Separation Control

Unsteady dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） plasma aerodynamic actuation technology is employed to suppress airfoil stall separation and the technical parameters are explored with wind tunnel experiments on an NACA0015 airfoil by measuring the surface pressure distribution of the airfoil.The performance of the DBD aerodynamic actuation for airfoil stall separation suppression is evaluated under DBD voltages from 2000 V to 4000 V and the duty cycles varied in the range of 0.1 to 1.0.It is found that higher lift coefficients and lower threshold voltages are achieved under the unsteady DBD aerodynamic actuation with the duty cycles less than 0.5as compared to that of the steady plasma actuation at the same free-stream speeds and attack angles,indicating a better flow control performance.By comparing the lift coefficients and the threshold voltages,an optimum duty cycle is determined as 0.25 by which the maximum lift coefficient and the minimum threshold voltage are obtained at the same free-stream speed and attack angle.The non-uniform DBD discharge with stronger discharge in the positive half cycle due to electrons deposition on the dielectric slabs and the suppression of opposite momentum transfer due to the intermittent discharge with cutoff of the negative half cycle are responsible for the observed optimum duty cycle.

Experimental Investigation of Flow Separation Control Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators

Influence of plasma actuators as a flow separation control device was investigated experimentally. Hump model was used to demonstrate the effect of plasma actuators on external flow separation, while for internal flow separation a set of compressor cascade was adopted. In order to investigate the modification of the flow structure by the plasma actuator, the flow field was examined non-intrusively by particle image velocimetry measurements in the hump model experiment and by a hot film probe in the compressor cascade experiment. The results showed that the plasma actuator could be effective in controlling the flow separation both over the hump and in the compressor cascade when the incoming velocity was low. As the incoming velocity increased, the plasma actuator was less effective. It is urgent to enhance the intensity of the plasma actuator for its better application. Methods to increase the intensity of plasma actuator were also studied.

Experimental Investigation on Aerodynamic Control of a Wing with Distributed Plasma Actuators

Experimental investigation of active flow control on the aerodynamic performance of a flying wing is conducted. Subsonic wind tunnel tests are performed using a model of a 35° swept flying wing with an nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge （NS-DBD） plasma actuator, which is installed symmetrically on the wing leading edge. The lift and drag coefficient, lift-to- drag ratio and pitching moment coefficient are tested by a six-component force balance for a range of angles of attack. The results indicate that a 44.5% increase in the lift coefficient, a 34.2% decrease in the drag coefficient and a 22.4% increase in the maximum lift-to-drag ratio can be achieved as compared with the baseline case. The effects of several actuation parameters are also investigated, and the results show that control efficiency demonstrates a strong dependence on actuation location and frequency. Furthermore, we highlight the use of distributed plasma actuators at the leading edge to enhance the aerodynamic performance, giving insight into the different mechanism of separation control and vortex control, which shows tremendous potential in practical flow control for a broad range of angles of attack.

Influence of separator control on the characteristics of severe slugging flow

Due to the special structure of offshore multiphase pipes, it is easy for severe slugging to occur in the riser at low gas-liquid velocity. Violent pressure fluctuations and dramatic changes of flow rate are the main characteristics of severe slugging, leading to the risk of serious damage. In this paper, the separator control is adopted to accurately control the separator liquid level and pressure under severe slugging flow conditions. This indicates that the separator liquid level control alone does not have a significant impact on the upstream flow, but it is beneficial for normal operation and pressure control of the separator. As the separator pressure increases, the peak pressure in the riser apparently diminishes, and the amplitude of pressure fluctuation gradually decreases, which means that severe slugging is inhibited. During the slug blowing out, the gas/liquid slipping in the riser intensifies. The long gas plug quickly flows through the riser, and then tends to morph into short and slowly flowing gas bubbles. The elimination effect of the pressure control strategy on severe slugging is related to the relative rate of the superficial gas/liquid flow.

Co-Simulation Research of the Mechanical-Hydraulic-Control Coupling System of ITER Tractor

The virtual prototyping models of the mechanical, hydraulic and control system of the ITER tractor were built with CATIA, ADAMS and MATLAB/Simulink respectively according to its heavy load and high precision characteristics, and the data transfer between the different models was accomplished by the integration interface between different software. Consequently the virtual experimental platform for the multi-disciplinary co-simulation was established. A co-simulation study of the mechanical-hydraulic-control coupling system of the ITER tractor was carried out. The synchronization servo control of parallel hydraulic cylinders was implemented, and the tracking control of the preconcerted trajectory of the hydraulic cylinders was realized on the established experimental platform. This paper presents the optimization design and technology rebuilding for the complicated coupling system with its theoretic foundation and co-simulation virtual experimental platform.

DOUBLE LOOP ACTIVE VIBRATION CONTROL OF PNEUMATIC ISOLATOR WITH TWO SEPARATE CHAMBERS

A newly designed pneumatic spring with two separate chambers is promoted and double-loop active control is introduced to overcome the following drawbacks of passive pneumatic isolation： ① The low frequency resonances introduced into the system; ② Conflict between lower isolation frequency and stiffness high enough to limit quasi-static stroke;③ Inconsistent isolation level with different force load. The design of two separate chambers is for the purpose of tuning support frequency and force independently and each chamber is controlled by a different valve. The inner one of double-loop structure is pressure control, and in order to obtain good performance, nonlinearities compensation and motion flow rate compensation （MFRC） are added besides the basic cascade compensation, and the influence of tube length is studied. The outer loop has two functions： one is to eliminate the resonance caused by isolation support and to broaden the isolation frequency band by payload velocity feedback and base velocity feed forward, and the other is to tune support force and support stiffness simultaneously and independently, which means the support force will have no effect on support stiffness. Theoretical analysis and experiment results show that the three drawbacks are overcome simultaneously.

Investigation of the interaction between NS-DBD plasma-induced vortexes and separated flow over a swept wing

The effect of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD) plasma flow separation control is closely related to the actuation frequency,because it involves the interaction between plasma-induced vortexes and separated flow.In order to study the mechanism of NS-DBD plasma flow separation control over a swept wing,especially the influence of the actuation frequency,at first,experimental studies of the actuation frequencies at 100 Hz are conducted to validate the numerical simulation method.Then,numerical studies of different actuation frequencies which are 50 Hz,100 Hz,160 Hz,200 Hz,500 Hz,and 1000 Hz,respectively are conducted.The interaction between the plasma-induced vortexes and the separated flow is analyzed.Results show that there is a range of the actuation frequency which includes the frequency(160 Hz) calculated by the average aerodynamic chord length to make the control effect good,but when the actuation frequencies are too low(50 Hz) or too high(1000 Hz),the control effect will get worse.The former is because plasmainduced vortexes disappear in a period within an actuation cycle;the latter is because plasma-induced vortexes cannot develop completely,resulting in a weak vortex intensity.

Parametric analyses for synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoil

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effects of synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoils. The preconditioned and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with a k x shear stream transport turbulence model are employed to accomplish the flowfield simulation of rotor airfoils under jet control. Additionally,a velocity boundary condition modeled by a sinusoidal function is developed to fulfill the perturbation effect of periodic jets. The validity of the present CFD procedure is evaluated by the simulated results of an isolated synthetic jet and the jet control case for airfoil NACA0015. Then, parametric analyses are conducted specifically for an OA213 rotor airfoil to investigate the effects of jet parameters（forcing frequency, jet location and momentum coefficient, jet direction, and distribution of jet arrays） on the control effect of the aerodynamic characteristics of a rotor airfoil. Preliminary results indicate that the efficiency of jet control can be improved with specific frequencies（the best lift-drag ratio at F＋= 2.0） and jet angles（40 or 75） when the jets are located near the separation point of the rotor airfoil. Furthermore, as a result of a suitable combination of jet arrays, the lift coefficient of the airfoil can be improved by nearly 100%, and the corresponding drag coefficient decreased by26.5% in comparison with the single point control case.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE FLOW AROUND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER WITH SURFACE SUCTION OR BLOWING USING VORTICITY-VELOCITY METHOD

A vorticity-velocity method was used to study the incompressible viscous fluid flow around a circular cylinder with surface suction or blowing. The resulted high order implicit difference equations were effeciently solved by the modified incomplete LU decomposition conjugate gradient scheme ( MILU-CG). The effects of surface suction or blowing' s position and strength on the vortex structures in the cylinder wake, as well as on the drag and lift forces at Reynoldes number Re = 100 were investigated numerically. The results show that the suction on the shoulder of the cylinder or the blowing on the rear of the cylinder can effeciently suppress the asymmetry of the vortex wake in the transverse direction and greatly reduce the lift force; the suction on the shoulder of the cylinder, when its strength is properly chosen, can reduce the drag force significantly, too.

A survey of safety separation management and collision avoidance approaches of civil UAS operating in integration national airspace system

Recent years have witnessed a booming of the industry of civil Unmanned Aircraft System(UAS).As an emerging industry,the UAS industry has been attracting great attention from governments of all countries and the aviation industry.UAS are highly digitalized,informationized,and intelligent;therefore,their integration into the national airspace system has become an important trend in the development of civil aviation.However,the complexity of UAS operation poses great challenges to the traditional aviation regulatory system and technical means.How to prevent collisions between UASs and between UAS and manned aircraft to achieve safe and efficient operation in the integrated operating airspace has become a common challenge for industry and academia around the world.In recent years,the international community has carried out a great amount of work and experiments in the air traffic management of UAS and some of the key technologies.This paper attempts to make a review of the UAS separation management and key technologies in collision avoidance in the integrated airspace,mainly focusing on the current situation of UAS Traffic Management(UTM),safety separation standards,detection system,collision risk prediction,collision avoidance,safety risk assessment,etc.,as well as an analysis of the bottlenecks that the current researches encountered and their development trends,so as to provide some insights and references for further research in this regard.Finally,this paper makes a further summary of some of the research highlights and challenges.

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.

Comparison of aerodynamic characteristics between a novel highly loaded injected blade with curvature induced pressure-recovery concept and one with conventional design

This paper introduces a novel design method of highly loaded compressor blades with air injection.CFD methods were firstly validated with existing data and then used to develop and investigate the new method based on a compressor cascade.A compressor blade is designed with a curvature induced pressure-recovery concept.A rapid drop of the local curvature on the blade suction surface results in a sudden increase in the local pressure,which is referred to as a curvature induced ‘Shock＇.An injection slot downstream from the ‘Shock＇ is used to prevent ‘Shock＇ induced separation,thus reducing the loss.As a result,the compressor blade achieves high loading with acceptable loss.First,the design concept based on a 2D compressor blade profile is introduced.Then,a 3D cascade model is investigated with uniform air injection along the span.The effects of the incidence are also investigated on emphasis in the current study.The mid-span flow field of the 3D injected cascade shows excellent agreement with the 2D designed flow field.For the highly loaded cascade without injection,the flow separates immediately downstream from the ‘Shock＇;the initial location of separation shows little change in a large incidence range.Thus air injection with the same injection configuration effectively removes the flow separation downstream from the curvature induced ‘Shock＇ and reduces the size of the separation zone at different incidences.Near the endwall,the flow within the incoming passage vortex mixes with the injected flow.As a result,the size of the passage vortex reduces significantly downstream from the injection slot.After air injection,the loss coefficient along spanwise reduces significantly and the flow turning angle increases.