Plasma Actuators for Bluff Body Flow Control

The aerodynamic plasma actuators have shown to be efficient flow control devices in various applications. In this study the results of flow control experiments utilizing single dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators to control flow separation and unsteady vortex shedding from a circular cylinder in cross-flow are reported. This work is motivated by the need to reduce landing gear noise for commercial transport aircraft via an effective streamlining created by the actuators. The experiments are performed at ReD = 30,000. Using either steady or unsteady actuation, Karman shedding is totally eliminated, turbulence levels in the wake decrease significantly and near-field sound pressure levels are reduced by 13.3 dB. Unsteady actuation at an excitation frequency of StD = 1 is found to be most effective. The unsteady actuation also has the advantage that total suppression of shedding is achieved for a duty cycle of only 25%. However, since unsteady actuation is associated with an unsteady body force and produces a tone at the actuation frequency, steady actuation is more suitable for noise control applications. In addition, plasma actuator optimization study is performed to improve the flow control efficiency and to reach higher Reynolds number. This part of the research is intended to maximize the body force produced by plasma discharge (steady and unsteady) which is a function of various parameters such as dielectric material, size of electrodes, their overlap, frequency, voltage, etc. Detailed experiments are performed in a controlled environment with no-external-flow condition with several different dielectric materials of various thicknesses. Plasma induced velocity (using glass Pitot probe), body force (using high precision weighing scale), and power dissipation are measured at various voltages and frequencies. Optimal voltage waveform and frequency has been found which resulted in time averaged maximum induced velocity and body force. This has resulted in an order of magnitude improvement of the actuator effect.