Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are a popular topic of research within the active flow control field. Several authors have studied these devices during the last twenty years considering their flow control applications. These devices present several interesting features such as the absence of mechanical components, fast response time, very low mass, easy implementation and robustness. However, a big percentage of power applied to these electronic devices it is not transfer to the adjacent flow but instead dissipated as heat. Studies have shown the power dissipated by a plasma actuator is composed of the power dissipated by the surface discharge and the thermal dielectric losses, and the frequency and applied voltage of the discharge will influence the dissipated power. Also, during its operation the actuator surface may reach temperatures near hundred Celsius degree. On the other hand, we know that in icing conditions, water droplets condensing on a wing's leading edge can freeze and the ice accretion causes weight and aerodynamic imbalances. When ice builds up by either freezing upon impingement on the leading edge or freezing as runback, the growth of the ice disturbs the local airflow, adds weight and modifies the aerodynamic performance of the surfaces by changing either their shape and/or their surface characteristics causing a degradation in performance, disturbing boundary layer airflow, critical loss of control or lift, a premature aerodynamic stall and increase in drag.  Considering the need of good ice prevention systems and the abilities of plasma actuators to dissipate energy in the form of heat, recently plasma actuators started to be studied as devices that can be used to prevent ice formation and at the same manipulate the flow field. This makes a perfect combination not only for aircraft applications but also for wind turbines that operate in cold regions. In addition, since a plasma actuator device presents a similar behaviour to a capacitor the presence of ice or water in the surface will change its electric field and thus its electrical characteristics. Therefore, by monitoring the plasma actuator device electrical characteristics the presence of ice, water or air in the plasma actuator surface can be detected. Considering this, in the present study we introduce a new ability of plasma actuators in which they operate as an ice sensor. So then they may operate in de-icing mode when there is accumulation of ice in the surface and operate in flow control mode when there is no need of melting ice. This leads to an optimization of the both operation modes efficiencies. Considering this, in the present work plasma actuators will be studied as a device that allows to perform active flow control, ice detection and ice accretion prevention. Plasma actuators will be experimentally studied and the ability of these devices to perform these three different abilities will be demonstrated.


Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Active Flow Control, Ice Formation Detection and Ice Accumulation Prevention

Division / Sponsors: 
Heat Transfer Division (HTD), Fluids Engineering Division (FED)

Heat Transfer Summer Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/HT/HT2020/volume/83709

18th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICNMM/ICNMM2020/volume/83693

Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/FEDSM/FEDSM2020/volume/83716

HT-ICNMM2020 - Virtual Conference, SHTC - Virtual Conference, FEDSM2020 - Virtual Conference

Supporting the need among researchers worldwide for additional online and multimedia content, ASME now offers the ASME Conference Video Collection. This platform will collect and provide long-term access to conference presentation videos, encompassing all technology areas within ASME's technical conference and events program. About 30,000-40,000 engineers across all mechanical engineering and related disciplines participate in ASME conferences each year. This includes authors of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 technical papers published by ASME, the majority of whom also submit video presentations for our virtual conferences. The video collection will be available as an add-on to existing product packages or as a separate subscription.