Exploration of plasma-based control for low-Reynolds number airfoil/gust interaction

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is employed to investigate the use of plasma-based actuation for the control of a vortical gust interacting with a wing section at a low Reynolds number. Flow about the SD7003 airfoil section at 4° angle of attack and a chord-based Reynolds number of 60,000 is considered in the simulation, which typifies micro air vehicle (MAV) applications. Solutions are obtained to the Navier–Stokes equations that were augmented by source terms used to represent body forces imparted by the plasma actuator on the fluid. A simple phenomenological model provided these body forces resulting from the electric field generated by the plasma. The numerical method is based upon a high-fidelity time-implicit scheme and an implicit LES approach which are used to obtain solutions on a locally refined overset mesh system. A Taylor-like vortex model is employed to represent a gust impinging upon the wing surface, which causes a substantial disruption to the undisturbed flow. It is shown that the fundamental impact of the gust on unsteady aerodynamic forces is due to an inviscid process, corresponding to variation in the effective angle of attack, which is not easily overcome. Plasma control is utilised to mitigate adverse effects of the interaction and improve aerodynamic performance. Physical characteristics of the interaction are described, and several aspects of the control strategy are explored. Among these are uniform and non-uniform spanwise variations of the control configuration, co-flow and counter-flow orientations of the directed force, pulsed and continuous operations of the actuator and strength of the plasma field. Results of the control situations are compared with regard to their effect upon aerodynamic forces. It was found that disturbances to the moment coefficient produced by the gust can be greatly reduced, which may be significant for stability and handling of MAV operations.