Effect of plasma actuation on asymmetric vortex flow over a slender conical forebody

The active flow control technology by using plasma actuation to manipulate forebody vortices on a slender conical body is being studied based on the previous research. This work is motivated by the need to increase the experimental velocity in the wind tunnel via an effective streamlining created by the actuators. A pair of Single-Dielectric Barrier Discharge (SDBD) plasma actuators is installed near the tip of a 20° circular-cone-cylinder model. The experiments are performed in a 3.0 m×1.6 m low speed wind tunnel at angles of attack of 45° and 50°. The test wind speed is varied from 15 m/s to 30 m/s with Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.16 to 0.32 million based on the cone base diameter. The results consist of measurements of circumferential pressure distributions over nine stations along the cone forebody, including one station using unsteady pressure tappings. The cross-sectional and overall side forces and yawing moments over the cone are calculated from the measured pressures. The experiments have confirmed that the plasma actuator can be used to achieve the proportional lateral control on slender forebodies at high angles of attack combined with a duty cycle technique. An effective control with a relative higher wind speed can be gotten by adjusting the position and induced flow direction of the plasma actuators.