Development of localized arc filament RF plasma actuators for high-speed and high Reynolds number flow control

Recently developed localized arc filament plasma actuators (LAFPAs) have shown tremendous control authority in high-speed and high Reynolds number flow for mixing enhancement and noise mitigation. Previously, these actuators were powered by a high-voltage pulsed DC plasma generator with low energy coupling efficiency of 5–10%. In the present work, a new custom-designed 8-channel pulsed radio frequency (RF) plasma generator has been developed to power up to 8 plasma actuators operated over a wide range of forcing frequencies (up to 50 kHz) and duty cycles (1–50%), and at high energy coupling efficiency (up to 80–85%). This reduces input electrical power requirements by approximately an order of magnitude, down to 12 W per actuator operating at 10% duty cycle. The new pulsed RF plasma generator is scalable to a system with a large number of channels. Performance of pulsed RF plasma actuators used for flow control was studied in a Mach 0.9 circular jet with a Reynolds number of about 623,000 and compared with that of pulsed DC actuators. Eight actuators were distributed uniformly on the perimeter of a 2.54-cm diameter circular nozzle extension. Both types of actuators coupled approximately the same amount of power to the flow, but with drastically different electrical inputs to the power supplies. Particle image velocimetry measurements showed that jet centerline Mach number decay produced by DC and RF actuators operating at the same forcing frequencies and duty cycles is very similar. At a forcing Strouhal number near 0.3, close to the jet column instability frequency, well-organized periodic structures, with similar patterns and dimensions, were generated in the jets forced by both DC and RF actuators. Far-field acoustic measurements demonstrated similar trends in the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) change produced by both types of actuators, resulting in OASPL reduction up to 1.2–1.5 dB in both cases. We conclude that pulsed RF actuators demonstrate flow control authority similar to pulsed DC actuators, with a significantly reduced power budget.     

Physical factors of primary jet vectoring control using synthetic jet actuators

A primary jet vectoring using synthetic jet actuators with different exit con- figurations was investigated,and the main physical factors influencing jet vectoring were analyzed and summarized.The physical factors of the pressure difference,the location and area of the lower pressure region,the component of the synthetic jet momentum and the entrainment ratio of the synthetic jet flow to primary jet flow directly control the vectoring force and the vectoring angle.Three characteristic parameters of the syn- thetic jet contribute to the pressure difference and the area of the lower pressure region Both the extension step and slope angle of the actuator exit have functions of regulating the location of the lower pressure region,the area of the lower pressure region,and the entrainment ratio of the synthetic jet flow to primary jet flow.The slope angle of the actuator exit has additional functions of regulating the component of the synthetic jet momentum.Based upon analyzing the physical factors of jet vectoring control with syn- thetic jets,the source variables of the physical factors were established.A preparatory control model of jet vectoring using synthetic jet actuator was presented,and it has the benefit of explaining the efficiency of jet vectoring using synthetic jet actuator with source variables at different values,and it indicates the optimal actuator is taking full advantage of the regulating function.     

Reduced-order modeling of high-speed jets controlled by arc filament plasma actuators

Arc filament plasma actuators applied to high-speed and high Reynolds number jets have demonstrated significant mixing enhancement when operated near the jet column mode (JCM) frequency. A feedback-oriented reduced-order model is developed for this flow from experimental data. The existent toolkit of stochastic estimation, proper orthogonal decomposition, and Galerkin projection is adapted to yield a 35-dimensional model for the unforced jet. Explicit inclusion of a "shift mode" stabilizes the model. The short-term predictive capability of instantaneous flow fields is found to degrade beyond a single flow time step, but this horizon may be adequate for feedback control. Statistical results from long-term simulations agree well with experimental observations. The model of the unforced jet is augmented to incorporate the effects of plasma actuation. Periodic forcing is modeled as a deterministic pressure wave specified on the inflow boundary of the modeling domain. Simulations of the forced model capture the nonlinear response that leads to optimal mixing enhancement in a small range of frequencies near the JCM.     

Active control of an axisymmetric jet with distributed electromagnetic flap actuators

Miniature electromagnetic flap actuators are developed and mounted on the periphery of the nozzle exit of an axisymmetric jet to induce various flow modes and enhance mixing processes. It is demonstrated that the flap actuators can significantly modify the large-scale vortical structures. In particular, when the flaps are driven in anti-phase on either side of the jet, alternately inclined and bent vortex rings are generated, and the jet bifurcates into two branches. Since the vortex rings are formed at the very vicinity of the nozzle exit, the bifurcation is accomplished as close as x/D=3.     

The use of plasma actuators for bluff body broadband noise control

Experiments were conducted using plasma actuators to control broadband noise generated by a bluff body flow. The motivation behind the study was to explore the potential of plasma actuators to reduce landing gear noise during approach phase of an aircraft. The control effectiveness of both dielectric barrier discharge and sliding discharge plasma actuators were tested in laboratory environment, using a representative bluff body consisting of a circular cylinder and an oblique strut. Noise measurements were taken in an anechoic chamber using a phased microphone array and far-field microphones. Results showed that the upstream directed plasma forcing, located at ±90 deg on the upstream cylinder with respect to the approaching flow, could effectively attenuate the broadband noise radiated from the wake flow interaction with the downstream strut. With the same AC electrical power consumption, the sliding discharge with additional DC voltage was found to be more effective due to its elongated plasma distribution and higher induced flow momentum. Measurements using particle image velocimetry suggested that the flow speed impinging on the downstream strut was reduced by the upstream plasma forcing, contributing to the reduced noise.     

Development of a feedback model for the high-speed impinging planar jet

This article experimentally investigates the self-excited impinging planar jet flow, specifically the development and propagation of large-scale coherent flow structures convecting between the nozzle lip and the downstream impingement surface. The investigation uses phase-locked particle image velocimetry measurements and a new structure-tracking scheme to measure convection velocity and characterize the impingement mechanism near the plate, in order to develop a new feedback model that can be used to predict the oscillation frequency as a function of flow velocity ( $U_o$ ), impingement distance ( $x_o$ ) and nozzle thickness ( $h$ ). The resulting model prediction shows a good agreement with experimental tone frequency data.     

Stall control at high angle of attack with plasma sheet actuators

We analyzed the modifications of the airflow around an NACA 0015 airfoil when the flow was perturbed with electrohydrodynamic forces. The actuation was produced with a plasma sheet device (PSD) consisting in two bare electrodes flush mounted on the surface of the wing profile operated to obtain a discharge contouring the body in the inter-electrode space. We analyze the influence of different parameters of the actuation (frequency, input power, electrodes position) on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, basing our study on measurements of the surface pressure distribution and of the flow fields with particle image velocimetry technique. The experiments indicated that at moderate Reynolds numbers (150,000 < Re < 333,000) and at high angles of attack, steady or periodic actuations enabled large improvement of the lift and drag/lift aerodynamic coefficients by reattaching the flow along the extrados. However, to attain the same results steady actuations required larger power consumption. When exciting the flow with a moderate value of non-dimensional power coefficient (ratio of electric power flow with the kinetic power flow), a frequency of excitation produced a peak on the coefficients that evaluate the airfoil performance. This peak in terms of a non-dimensional frequency was close to 0.4 and can be associated to an optimal frequency of excitation. However, our work indicates that this peak is not constant for all stalled flow conditions and should be analyzed considering scale factors that take into account the ratio of the length where the forcing acts and the cord length.     

Visualization of a high-speed,luminous plasma jet using a focusing schlieren technique

The near-field structure of a luminous, high-speed plasma jet was visualized using a stroboscopic focussing schlieren technique. The glow from the jet and the effects of convective currents in the enclosure are overcome by this method thus providing greater details of the near-exit region of the jet.The work was supported by the National Science Foundation under the grant # NSF-DDM-9215846. The authors would like to thank R. Gansert for his help in conducting the experiments.     

Investigation of tiny jet locations effect in a sudden expansion duct for high-speed flows control using experimental and optimization methods

Meccanica - The present research focuses on dynamic flow control management using tiny jets with three combinations; the first one located at 90° intervals of the base, the second one located...     

Electrical and mechanical characteristics of surface AC dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators applied to airflow control

The present paper is a wide review on AC surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuators applied to airflow control. Both electrical and mechanical characteristics of surface DBD are presented and discussed. The first half of the present paper gives the last results concerning typical single plate-to-plate surface DBDs supplied by a sine high voltage. The discharge current, the plasma extension and its morphology are firstly analyzed. Then, time-averaged and time-resolved measurements of the produced electrohydrodynamic force and of the resulting electric wind are commented. The second half of the paper concerns a partial list of approaches having demonstrated a significant modification in the discharge behavior and an increasing of its mechanical performances. Typically, single DBDs can produce mean force and electric wind velocity up to 1 mN/W and 7 m/s, respectively. With multi-DBD designs, velocity up to 11 m/s has been measured and force up to 350 mN/m.     

Disturbance rejection-based robust control for micropositioning of piezoelectric actuators

Precise control of piezoelectric actuators used in micropositioning applications is strongly under the effect of internal and external disturbances. Undesired external forces, unmodelled dynamics, parameter uncertainties, time variation of parameters and hysteresis are some sources of disturbances. These effects not only degrade the performance efficiency, but also may lead to closed-loop instability. Several works have investigated the positioning accuracy for constant and slow time-varying disturbances. The main concern is controlling performance and also the presence of time-varying perturbations. Considering unknown source and magnitude of disturbances, the estimation of the existing disturbances would be inevitable. In this paper, a compound disturbance observer-based robust control is developed to achieve precise positioning in the presence of time-varying disturbances. In addition, a modified disturbance observer is proposed to remedy the effect of switching behaviour in the case of slow time variations. A modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii (PI) operator and its inverse are utilized for both identification and real-time compensation of the hysteresis effect. Experimental results depict that the proposed approach achieves precise micropositioning in the presence of estimated disturbances.     

Observer-based continuous adaptive sliding mode control for soft actuators

Nonlinear Dynamics - Fabricated by high elastic materials, soft actuators provide a prominent solution for soft rehabilitation gloves, soft graspers and locomotion robots. However, the control of...     

Dominant parameters for maximum velocity induced by body-force models for plasma actuators

This study investigates the relationship between body-force fields and maximum velocity induced in quiescent air for development of a simple body-force model of a plasma actuator. Numerical simulations are conducted with the body force near a wall. The spatial distribution and temporal variation of the body force are a Gaussian distribution and steady actuation, respectively. The dimensional analysis is performed to derive a reference velocity and Reynolds number based on the body-force distribution. It is found that the derived Reynolds number correlates well with the nondimensional maximum velocity induced in quiescent conditions when the center of the Gaussian distribution is fixed at the wall. Additionally, two flow regimes are identified in terms of the Reynolds number. Considering the variation of the center of gravity of force fields, another Reynolds number is defined by introducing a new reference length. The nondimensional maximum velocity is found to be scaled with the latter Reynolds number, i.e., the maximum induced velocity in quiescent conditions is determined from three key parameters of the force field: the total induced momentum per unit time, the height of the center of gravity, and the standard deviation from it. This scaling turns out to be applicable to existing body-force models of the plasma actuator, despite the force distributions different from the Gaussian distribution. Comparisons of velocity profiles with experimental data validate the results and show that the flow induced by a plasma actuator can be simulated with simple force distributions by adjustment of the key body-force parameters.     

Transition control in a three-dimensional boundary layer by direct attenuation of nonlinear crossflow vortices using plasma actuators

Direct numerical simulations are used to probe the potential of plasma actuators to attenuate nonlinear steady crossflow vortices (CFVs). The investigated base flow mimics the three-dimensional boundary-layer flow of a swept wing. The plasma actuators are positioned at selected spanwise positions to weaken oncoming CFVs and thus the associated (secondary) instability. It is shown that both volume forcing against or in the direction of the crossflow (CF) can be effective, and a significant transition delay can be achieved. The spanwise position of the actuators should be such that the actuation-induced downdraft inhibits the CFV. The forcing in the direction of the CF does not reduce the mean CF, and an unfavourable spanwise position of the actuator may directly increase the strength of the CFV and eventually promote turbulence onset. The forcing against the CF never turned out to promote turbulence onset for all investigated positions, because of the favourable reduction of the mean CF. Adding then a second or third actuator downstream at appropriate spanwise positions can yield enhanced transition delay.     

Experimental damping of boundary-layer oscillations using DBD plasma actuators

In the present work artificially excited Tollmien–Schlichting waves were cancelled using plasma actuators operated both in continuous and pulsed modes. To achieve this a vibrating surface, driven by an electromagnetic turbulator, was flush-mounted in a flat plate to excite the TS waves. These were amplified by an adverse pressure gradient induced by an insert on the upper wall of the test section. Control plasma actuators positioned downstream of the excitation actuator attenuate the waves by imparting a steady or unsteady force into the boundary-layer. In the case with steady actuation the two actuators change the velocity profile of the laminar boundary-layer, which then attenuates the waves by itself. In the case of pulsed actuation the actuator creates an unsteady body force to counteract directly the oscillation. As a result the amplitude of the velocity fluctuations at the excitation frequency is reduced significantly in both cases. The principles and the results of the two sets of experiments are presented and discussed.     

Development of a liquid-fuel jet at high-speed pulse injection into a gaseous medium. II. Calculation and experiment

A three-stage calculation scheme developed previously on the basis of a complex experimental study is used to calculate the parameters of a gas-liquid jet formed at pulse high-speed injection of a liquid fuel into a gaseous medium. The results obtained using this model are in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental data, and a physically grounded explanation is offered for the discrepancies observed in some ranges of parameters. Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 166–173, January–February, 1999.     

Modeling of wireless remote shape control for beams using nonlinear photostrictive actuators

Photostrictive materials produce mechanical strain when irradiated by ultraviolet light, thus may be used in wireless remote control of smart microstructures. This paper presents an investigation into modelling and static shape control of beams with nonlinear photostrictive actuators. Governing equations of beams bonded with photostrictive actuator patches are derived to study the interaction between the photostrictive actuators and the host beams. An analytical solution method is presented to solve the governing equations of the beams with discretely distributed photostrictive actuators. An iterative procedure is developed to find optimal light intensities in photostrictive actuators that best match the actuated shape to the desired one. An example is given to illustrate the model and shape control of a beam with PLZT actuators.     

Development of a liquid-fuel jet at high-speed pulse injection into a gaseous medium. I. Physical model

A three-stage scheme for calculation of the main parameters of a high-speed pulse jet of a fuelair mixture in a gaseous medium is proposed. First, the development of a comparatively dense axial flow of the mixture, which is formed during quasistationary high-speed injection of a liquid fuel from the nozzle, is considered. Then the character of motion of the head part of this flow is examined taking into account the cumulative character of interaction between the flow and the medium. Finally, the dependences typical of an autonomous vortex ring, which allow one to determine the diameter and the root angle of the jet, are presented. Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 158–165, January–February, 1999.