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Control of Boundary Layer Separation and the Wake of an Airfoil using ns-DBD Plasma Actuators

The efficacy of nanosecond pulse driven dielectric barrier discharge (ns-DBD) plasma actuators for boundary layer separation and wake control is investigated experimentally. A single ns-DBD plasma actuator is placed at the leading edge of a NACA 0012 airfoil model. Both baseline and controlled flow fields are studied using static pressure measurements, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Constant Temperature Anemometry (CTA). Experiments are primarily performed at Re = 0.74 x 10⁶ and α = 18°. CP, PIV and CTA data show that a forcing frequency of F⁺ = 1.14 is optimal for separation control. CTA surveys of the wake at x/c = 7 indicate three approximate regimes of behavior. Forcing in the range 0.92 < F⁺ < 1.52 results in the best conditions for separation control over the airfoil, but has no dominant signature in the wake at x/c = 7. Excitation in the range of 0.23 < F⁺ < 0.92 produces a single dominant frequency in the wake while F⁺ < 0.23 shows behavior representing a possible impulse response or nonlinear effects. PIV data confirm these observations in all three regimes. Cross-correlations of CTA data are also employed to evaluate the two-dimensionality of the excited wake. The initial results presented here are part of an ongoing effort to use active flow control (AFC), in the form of ns-DBDs, as an enabling technology for the study of unsteady aerodynamics and vortex-body interactions.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/605119
Date January 2016
CreatorsAshcraft, Timothy Allen
ContributorsLittle, Jesse, Little, Jesse, Chan, Cholik, Kerschen, Edward
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Electronic Thesis
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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