Excitation of controllable perturbations in the three-dimensional boundary layer using plasma actuators

Two versions of the structure of a multi-discharge plasma actuator intended to excite boundary layer perturbations in the neighborhood of the leading swept-wing edge are suggested. The actuator must prevent from appearance and development of the crossflow instability modes leading to laminarturbulent transition under the normal conditions. In the case of flow past a swept wing, excitation of controllable perturbations by the plasma actuator is simulated numerically in the steady-state approximation under the typical conditions of cruising flight of a subsonic aircraft. The local body force and thermal impact on the boundary layer flow which is periodic along the leading wing edge is considered. The calculations are carried out for the physical impact parameters realizable in the near-surface dielectric barrier discharge.     

低雷诺数俯仰振荡翼型等离子体流动控制

针对低雷诺数翼型气动性能差的特点, 通过介质阻挡放电(dielectric barrier discharge, DBD)等离子体激励控制的方法, 提高翼型低雷诺数下的气动特性,改善其流场结构. 采用二维准直接数值模拟方法求解非定常不可压Navier-Stokes方程,对具有俯仰运动的NACA0012翼型的低雷诺数流动展开数值模拟.同时将介质阻挡放电激励对流动的作用以彻体力源项的形式加入Navier-Stokes方程,通过数值模拟探究稳态DBD等离子体激励对俯仰振荡NACA0012翼型气动特性和流场特性的影响.为了进行流动控制, 分别在上下表面的前缘和后缘处安装DBD等离子体激励器,并提出四种激励器的开环控制策略,通过对比研究了这些控制策略在不同雷诺数、不同减缩频率以及激励位置下的控制效果.通过流场结构和动态压强分析了等离子体进行流场控制的机理. 结果表明,前缘DBD控制中控制策略B(负攻角时开启上表面激励器,正攻角时开启下表面激励器)效果最好,后缘DBD控制中控制策略C(逆时针旋转时开启上表面激励器,顺时针旋转时开启下表面激励器)效果最好,前缘DBD控制效果会随着减缩频率的增大而下降, 同时会导致阻力增大.而后缘DBD控制可以减小压差阻力, 优于前缘DBD控制,对于计算的所有减缩频率(5.01~11.82)都有较好的增升减阻效果.在不同雷诺数下, DBD控制的增升效果较为稳定, 而减阻效果随着雷诺数的降低而变差,这是由流体黏性效应增强导致的.      

Approximate calculation of channel flows under force and energy actions

Gasdynamic channel flows under force and energy actions are considered. An approximate method is proposed for solving the gasdynamic equations that describe these flows. Themethod includes the separation of an “active” flow volume in which the integral electric force and applied power, whose densities are assumed to be uniform, are concentrated and the numerical integration of the system of hydrodynamic equations over the entire channel (in laminar and turbulent variants) with the piecewise constant force and energy sources obtained. The results of experimental investigation are presented for the flow that arises after two accessories mounted on the opposite walls of the vertical rectangular channel of constant cross-section, which create a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD actuators). This flow is numerically simulated using the method developed. On the basis of the method proposed the flow characteristics are determined for a model subsonic diffuser on whose lower wall, immediately in front of the separation zone, the DBD actuator is mounted. The efficiency of this accessory in reducing the gasdynamic losses is demonstrated.     

A mathematical model for cylindrical,fiber reinforced electro-pneumatic actuators

In recent years, dielectric elastomers have received increasing attention due to their unparalleled large strain actuation response (>100%). The force output, however, has remained a major limiting factor for many applications. To address this limitation, a model for a fiber reinforced dielectric elastomer actuator based on the deformation mechanism of McKibben actuators is presented. In this novel configuration, the outer cylindrical surface of a dielectric elastomer is enclosed by a network of helical fibers that are thin, flexible and inextensible. This configuration yields an axially contractile actuator, in contrast to unreinforced actuators which extend. The role of the fiber network is twofold: (i) to serve as reinforcement to improve the load-bearing capability of dielectric elastomers, and (ii) to render the actuator inextensible in the axial direction such that the only free deformation path is simultaneous radial expansion and axial contraction. In this paper, a mathematical model of the electromechanical response of fiber reinforced dielectric elastomers is derived. The model is developed within a continuum mechanics framework for large deformations. The cylindrical electro-pneumatic actuator is modeled by adapting Green and Adkins’ theory of reinforced cylinders to account for the applied electric field. Using this approach, numerical solutions are obtained assuming a Mooney–Rivlin material model. The results indicate that the relationship between the contractile force and axial shortening is bilinear within the voltage range considered. The characteristic response as a function of various system parameters such as the fiber angle, inflation pressure, and the applied voltage are reported. In this paper, the elastic portion of the modeling approach is validated using experimental data for McKibben actuators.     

Duty cycle and directional jet effects of a plasma actuator on the flow control around a NACA0015 airfoil

This paper reports on the effects of a series of fluid-dynamic dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators on a NACA0015 airfoil at high angle of attack. A set of jet actuators able to produce plasma jets with different directions (vectoring effect) and operated at different on/off duty cycle frequencies are used. The experiments are performed in a wind tunnel facility. The vectorized jet and the transient of the flow induced by unsteady duty cycle operation of each actuator are examined and the effectiveness of the actuator to recover stall condition in the range of Reynolds numbers between 1.0 × 10⁵ and 5.0 × 10⁵ (based on airfoil chord), is investigated. The actuator placed on the leading edge of the airfoil presents the most effective stall recovery. No significant effects can be observed for different orientations of the jet. An increase of the stall recovery is detected when the actuator is operated in unsteady operation mode. Moreover, the frequency of the on/off duty cycle that maximizes the stall recovery is found to be a function of the free stream velocity. This frequency seems to scale with the boundary layer thickness at the position of the actuator. A lift coefficient increase at low free stream velocities appears to linearly depend on the supply voltage.     

“Bunched” model of corona discharge in a gas-dynamical flow

In the present paper, a theoretical model of corona discharge is proposed for the case when electric charge transport is implemented by means of the motion of discrete charged bunches of finite dimensions. A system of equations and boundary conditions is formulated for the study of unsteady cyclic processes in a corona discharge. The electric field induced by the space charge of bunches and the presence of an external electric circuit are taken into account. A solution of the formulated system of equations for corona discharge with spherical geometry is obtained. The integrated (current-voltage) characteristics and the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the corona discharge are found. The proposed theory is generalized to the case of a corona discharge in a moving gas. The unsteady characteristics of corona discharge with spherical geometry for gas motion in a radial direction are found.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 153–160, January–February, 1986.The authors wish to express their gratitude to V. A. Likhter and V. I. Shul'gin for their useful discussions and valuable observations.     

Effect of a dielectric barrier discharge on laminar-turbulent transition on a flat plate in a disturbed external flow

Numerical simulation is applied to study the distinctive features of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) effect on laminar-turbulent transition on a flat plate in the presence of disturbances in the external flow. The density distributions of the electric force and the discharge power acting on the gas are assumed to be uniform within the given discharge volume. To model the external disturbances the value of the turbulent viscosity in the differential model used is assumed to be nonzero at the boundary layer edge.     

Continuum modeling of charged vacancy migration in elastic dielectric solids, with application to perovskite thin films

A continuum theory describing the behavior of dielectric materials containing mobile, electrically charged vacancies is formulated. The theory is implemented to simulate diffusion, at the nanometer scale, of oxygen vacancies in acceptor-doped barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films in the paraelectric state. In the simulations, charged vacancies coalesce into boundary layers of large concentration at potential-free interfaces, with increases in the local electric field intensity emerging near such boundaries. Upon relating this increase to a reduction in the energy barrier for charge transmission from film to electrode at the interface, and accepting an inverse relationship between the concentrations of doping elements and mobile oxygen vacancies, the model shows agreement with observed trends of decreasing current losses with increased doping.     

An investigation into the effect of electric field on the performance of Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma actuators

The influence of the inter-electrode electric field of a single Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) actuator on the performance of the device was investigated. The electric field of the actuator was manipulated through the variation of the angle between the electrodes of the actuators. Response forces generated by the plasma actuators were used as performance indicators for these devices. These forces were measured directly utilizing a highly sensitive balance scale. It was verified that depending on the orientation of the variation of the angle between the electrodes, the performance of the actuator may be decreased or increased when compared to a DBD on a flat dielectric plate more commonly investigated in literature. The manner in which the ionic wind flows over the actuators was also explored in the effort to elucidate the influence of the variation of the angle between the electrodes on the response force generated by the device. Results demonstrated that the response forces generated by the actuators may be improved by up to 50% compared to the actuator configuration on a flat dielectric plate commonly investigated. These results indicate the potential available to advance plasma technology by physically manipulating these devices to increase the performances of the actuators.     

等离子体激励气动力学探索与展望

等离子体激励气动力学是研究等离子体激励与流动相互作用下, 绕流物体受力和流动特性以及管道内部流动规律的科学, 属于空气动力学、气体动力学与等离子体动力学交叉前沿领域. 等离子体激励是等离子体在电磁场力作用下运动或气体放电产生的压力、温度、物性变化, 对气流施加的一种可控扰动. 局域、非定常等离子体激励作用下, 气流运动状态会发生显著变化, 进而实现气动性能的提升. 国际上对介质阻挡放电等离子体激励、等离子体合成射流激励及其调控附面层、分离流动、含激波流动等开展了大量研究. 等离子体激励调控气流呈现显著的频率耦合效应, 等离子体冲击流动控制是提升调控效果的重要途径. 发展高效能等离子体激励方法, 通过等离子体激励与气流耦合, 激发和利用气流不稳定性, 揭示耦合机理、提升调控效果, 是等离子体激励气动力学未来的发展方向.      

Effect of a space-time source structure simulating a dielectric barrier discharge on the laminar boundary layer

The time-dependent pulse-periodic action of a surface electric discharge on a flat-plate laminar boundary layer is simulated theoretically. The effect of the discharge is estimated within the framework of the numerical solution of the boundary value problem for the time-dependent two-dimensional compressible boundary layer with additional terms in the momentum and energy conservation equations simulating the force and thermal action of the discharge on the gas flow with allowance for the pressure gradient across the boundary layer induced by the corresponding body force component. The effect of certain parameters of the problem formulated above on the gas velocity induced by the discharge in the boundary layer is also estimated.     

Optimization of a dielectric barrier discharge actuator by stationary and non-stationary measurements of the induced flow velocity: application to airflow control

Several studies have shown that a surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) may be used as an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) actuator in order to control airflows. In this paper, a parametric study has been performed in order to increase the velocity of the ionic wind induced by such actuators. The results show that an optimization of geometrical and electrical parameters allows us to obtain a time-averaged ionic wind velocity up to 8 m/s at 0.5 mm from the wall. Moreover, non-stationary measurements of the induced wind have been performed with synchronized records of current and voltage signals. These experiments show that the DBD actuator seems to generate a pulsed velocity at the same frequency than the applied high voltage.     

机翼尺度效应对等离子体分离流动控制特性的影响

等离子体流动控制技术是一种以等离子体气动激励为控制手段的主动流动控制技术. 为了进一步提高等离子体激励器可控机翼尺度, 以超临界机翼SC(2)-0714大迎角分离流为研究对象, 以对称布局介质阻挡放电等离子体为控制方式, 以测力、粒子图像测速仪为研究手段, 从等离子体激励器特性研究出发, 深入开展了机翼尺度效应对等离子体控制的影响研究, 提出了适用于分离流控制的能效比系数, 探索了分离流等离子体控制机理, 掌握了机翼尺度对分离流控制的影响规律. 结果表明: (1)随着机翼尺度的增大, 布置到机翼上的激励器电极长度会相应增加; 在本文的参数研究范围内, 激励器的平均消耗功率不会随电极长度的增加而线性增大; 当电极长度达到一定阈值时, 激励器的平均消耗功率趋于定值; (2)在固定雷诺数的情况下, 随着机翼尺度的增大, 等离子体的控制效果并未降低, 激励器能效比系数提高; (3)等离子体在主流区诱导的大尺度展向涡与在壁面附近产生的一系列拟序结构成为分离流控制的关键. 研究结果为实现真实飞机的等离子体分离流控制, 推动等离子体流动控制技术工程化应用提供了技术支撑.      

正弦交流介质阻挡放电等离子体激励器诱导流场研究的进展与展望

正弦交流介质阻挡放电等离子体流动控制技术是基于等离子体激励的主动流动控制技术,具有响应时间短、结构简单、能耗低、不需要额外气源装置等优点,在飞行器增升减阻、抑振降噪、助燃防冰等方面具有广阔的应用前景.针对“激励器消耗的大部分能量尚未被挖掘利用、诱导流场的完整演化过程尚未完全掌握、诱导流场的演化机制尚不明确”这三方面问题,本文首先从激励器诱导流场的空间结构、时空演化过程、演化机制三个方面回顾总结了激励器诱导流场的研究进展.在诱导流场空间结构方面,发现了高电压激励下诱导射流的湍流特性,辨析了壁面拟序结构与无量纲激励参数之间的关联机制;从激励器诱导声能方面挖掘出了激励器潜在的能量,发现了“等离子体诱导超声波与诱导声流”的新现象,提出了声激励机制;在时空演化过程方面,阐明了激励器诱导流场从薄型壁射流发展为“拱形”射流、再演变为启动涡,最终形成准定常射流的完整演化过程;在演化机制方面,结合声学特性提出了以“升推”为主的诱导流场演化机制.其次,围绕激励器诱导流场,进一步凝练出下一步研究重点,为突破等离子体流动控制技术瓶颈,打通“概念创新—技术突破—演示验证”的创新链路,实现工程应用提供支撑.     

Experimental analysis of current and deformation of ion-exchange polymer metal composite actuators

In this paper we describe the experimental analysis of a novel ion-exchange polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator under large external voltage. The experimental analysis is supplemented with a coupled thermodynamic model, which includes mass transport across the thickness of the polymer actuator, chemical reactions at boundaries, and deformation as a function of the solvent (water) distribution. In this paper, the case of large electrode potentials (over 1.2 V) has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically. At these voltage levels, electrochemical reactions take place at both electrodes. These are used in the framework of overpotential theory to develop boundary conditions for the water transport in the bulk of polymer. The model is then simplified to a three-component system comprised of a fixed negatively charged polymeric matrix, protons, and free water molecules within the polymer matrix. Among these species, water molecules are considered to be the dominant species responsible for the deformation of the IPMC actuators. Experiments conducted at different initial water contents are described and discussed in the context of the proposed deformation mechanism. Comparison of numerical simulations with experimental data shows good agreement.     

Simulation of an electrohydrodynamic DC actuator

A semiempirical model of the electrohydrodynamic actuator operating on the basis of a dc corona discharge is proposed. The model is based on calculations of an electric field and a unipolar ion jet generated by a linear ion source on the surface of a dielectric plate and propagating along the plate in the laminar boundary layer. The ion source intensity and the potential difference on the actuator electrodes are determined experimentally. Estimates of the velocity induced by the electrohydrodynamic action in the flat-plate laminar boundary layer are obtained on the basis of the model. A comparison of the calculation results with the available experimental data confirms the adequacy of the model proposed. The effect of the adsorption properties of the dielectric surface on the distributions of the volume and surface electric discharge in the boundary layer is investigated within the framework of this model.     

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.     

Modeling and simulation of a novel vertical actuator based on electrowetting on dielectric

A novel vertical actuator based on electrowetting on dielectric （EWOD） was designed, analyzed and simulated. Modeling results indicated that the vertical driving force of the actuator obeyed a second order polynomial of applied voltage, which was verified by Covent_ware 2006. As a resuit, the vertical driving force of the EWOD actuator with a 1.1 nL droplet and a 1.75 μm thick polymer was about 0.5 μN under an applied voltage 100V which was comparable to that of the electrostatic actuators. Moreover, the noise from plane forces we analyzed and simulated was very low. Therefore, we made a conclusion that the EWOD actuator can be used in MEMS transducer.     

Single dielectric barrier discharge plasma enhanced aerodynamics: physics,modeling and applications

The term “plasma actuator” has been a part of the fluid dynamics flow control vernacular for more than a decade. A particular type of plasma actuator that has gained wide use is based on a single dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) mechanism that has desirable features for use in air at atmospheric pressures. For these actuators, the mechanism of flow control is through a generated body force vector that couples with the momentum in the external flow. The body force can be derived from first principles and the plasma actuator effect can be easily incorporated into flow solvers so that their placement and operation can be optimized. They have been used in a wide range of applications that include bluff body wake control; lift augmentation and separation control on a variety of lifting surfaces ranging from fixed wings with various degrees of sweep, wind turbine rotors and pitching airfoils simulating helicopter rotors; flow separation and tip-casing clearance flow control to reduce losses in turbines, to control flow surge and stall in compressors; and in exciting instabilities in boundary layers at subsonic to supersonic Mach numbers for turbulent transition control. New applications continue to appear through programs in a growing number of US universities and government laboratories, as well as in Germany, France, England, Netherland, Russia, Japan and China. This paper provides an overview of the physics, design and modeling of SDBD plasma actuators. It then presents their use in a number of applications that includes both numerical flow simulations and experiments together.

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振动控制作动器的数目和位置优化设计

提出一种确定作动器的数目和优化设计作动器位置的方法。以独立模态最优控制方法为基础,将模态控制力和作动器作动力处理为随机变量,建立了模态控制力能量的自相关矩阵和作动器作动力能量的自相关矩阵。进一步通过作动力能量的自相关阵包含的能量确定了作动器的数目,在此基础上,建立了基于控制系统作动力消耗能量最小,优化设计控制系统的作动器最优位置。通过数值算例证明了该方法的有效性。