Experimental investigation of nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation

In this paper we report on an experimental study of the characteristics of nanosecond pulsed discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation. The N2 （C3IIu） rotational and vibrational temperatures are around 430 K and 0.24 eV, respectively. The emission intensity ratio between tile first negative system and the second positive system of N2, as a rough indicator of the temporally and spatially averaged electron energy, has a minor dependence on applied voltage amplitude. The induced flow direction is not parallel, but vertical to the dielectric layer surface, as shown by measurements of body force, velocity, and vorticity. Nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation is effective in airfoil flow separation control at freestream speeds up to 100 m/s.

Electric and plasma characteristics of RF discharge plasma actuation under varying pressures

The electric and plasma characteristics of RF discharge plasma actuation under varying pressure have been inves- tigated experimentally. As the pressure increases, the shapes of charge-voltage Lissajous curves vary, and the discharge energy increases. The emission spectra show significant difference as the pressure varies. When the pressure is 1000 Pa, the electron temperature is estimated to be 4.139 eV, the electron density and the vibrational temperature of plasma are /peak /lPeak which describes the electron temper- 4.71 x 10^11 cm-3 and 1.27 eV, respectively. The ratio of spectral lines ＂391.4/＇380.5 ature hardly changes when the pressure varies between 5000-30000 Pa, while it increases remarkably with the pressure below 5000 Pa, indicating a transition from filamentary discharge to glow discharge. The characteristics of emission spec- trum are obviously influenced by the loading power. With more loading power, both of the illumination and emission spectrum intensity increase at 10000 Pa. The pin-pin electrode RF discharge is arc-like at power higher than 33 W, which results in a macroscopic air temperature increase.

Aerodynamic actuation characteristics of radio-frequency discharge plasma and control of supersonic flow

In this paper, aerodynamic actuation characteristics of radio-frequency(RF) discharge plasma are studied and a method is proposed for shock wave control based on RF discharge. Under the static condition, a RF diffuse glow discharge can be observed; under the supersonic inflow, the plasma is blown downstream but remains continuous and stable.Time-resolved schlieren is used for flow field visualization. It is found that RF discharge not only leads to continuous energy deposition on the electrode surface but also induces a compression wave. Under the supersonic inflow condition, a weak oblique shock wave is induced by discharge. Experimental results of the shock wave control indicate that the applied actuation can disperse the bottom structure of the ramp-induced oblique shock wave, which is also observed in the extracted shock wave structure after image processing. More importantly, this control effect can be maintained steadily due to the continuous high-frequency(MHz) discharge. Finally, correlations for schlieren images and numerical simulations are employed to further explore the flow control mechanism. It is observed that the vortex in the boundary layer increases after the application of actuation, meaning that the boundary layer in the downstream of the actuation position is thickened. This is equivalent to covering a layer of low-density smooth wall around the compression corner and on the ramp surface, thereby weakening the compressibility at the compression corner. Our results demonstrate the ability of RF plasma aerodynamic actuation to control the supersonic airflow.

射频放电等离子体气动激励特性的实验研究

为了提高等离子体气动激励的强度及流动控制的能力,实验研究了射频放电等离子体的气动激励特性。建立了射频放电等离子体气动激励实验系统,由射频信号发生器、阻抗匹配升压变压器、尖–尖电极等离子体激励器等组成。尖–尖电极等离子体激励器由一组对称的电极和固定装置组成,电极材料采用钨,固定装置材料采用胶木,固定之后电极间距为0.5 mm。在静止空气条件下进行实验,研究了射频放电等离子体的电特性和诱导流动特性。实验结果表明:气压变化时,等离子体激励器的阻抗会发生变化,耦合到等离子体激励器的输入功率也不同;在大气压下,由于射频放电存在快速加热作用,在静止空气中诱导产生了近似圆柱形的冲击波;冲击波首先以音速向外传播,随后强度逐渐减弱,一定时间后衰减为弱扰动;采用射频电源、重频脉冲直流电源、ns脉冲电源,均能在静止空气中诱导产生冲击波,冲击波波速接近音速。由于射频电源的体积、重量更小,实现阻抗匹配之后所需的电源输入功率最低,因此,射频放电是一种非常有前景的气动激励产生方式,在等离子体流动控制方面可能取得较好的效果。

μs脉冲等离子体气动激励特性的实验研究

等离子体气动激励特性的测试诊断是揭示等离子体流动控制物理作用机制的重要基础。为此,主要在常规大气环境条件下,对μs脉冲等离子体气动激励特性进行电、光谱和流动特性的综合测试诊断实验研究。实验结果表明:μs脉冲放电的本质是丝状放电,在一个周期内,放电集中在正电压脉冲和负电压脉冲的上升沿;随着激励电压幅值增大,发射光谱强度增大,但表征电子温度和密度的典型谱线比变化不大;在放电的起始阶段,等离子体气动激励诱导了启动涡,启动涡随后发展成近壁面射流;激励电压和脉冲重复频率越大,等离子体气动激励诱导体积力越大;μs脉冲等离子体气动激励为非定常激励,消耗的功率比激励电压波形为连续正弦波时减小约30%,对于等离子体流动控制研究更为有益。