Dynamic Evolution Of Vortex Structures Induced By Tri-Electrode Plasma Actuator

Plasma flow control is a new type of active flow control approach based on plasma pneumatic actuation. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuators have become a focus of international aerodynamic research. However, the practical applications of typical DBDs are largely restricted due to their limited discharge area and low relative-induced velocity. The further improvement of performance will be beneficial for engineering applications. In this paper, high-speed schlieren and high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) are employed to study the flow field induced by three kinds of plasma actuations in a static atmosphere, and the differences in induced flow field structure among typical DBD, extended DBD (EX-DBD), and tri-electrode sliding discharge (TED) are compared. The analyzing of the dynamic evolution of the maximum horizontal velocity over time, the velocity profile at a fixed horizontal position, and the momentum and body force in a control volume reveals that the induced velocity peak value and profile velocity height of EX-DBD are higher than those of the other two types of actuation, suggesting that EX-DBD actuation has the strongest temporal aerodynamic effect among the three types of actuations. The TED actuation not only can enlarge the plasma extension but also has the longest duration in the entire pulsed period and the greatest influence on the height and width of the airflow near the wall surface. Thus, the TED actuation has the ability to continuously influencing a larger three-dimensional space above the surface of the plasma actuator.