Plasma actuators are promising devices with several applications in the field of active flow control. These simple devices constituted by two electrodes and separated by a dielectric layer, when supplied with an AC high voltage and high frequency signal, produce a plasma discharge and creates an electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) force that pulls the neighboring flow towards the actuator surface and accelerates it in a direction tangential to the surface. Considering this flow control effect, several researchers have focused their work on studying the plasma actuators physics of operation their possible implementation for different flow control applications. Boundary layer flow control, wake control, lift improvement, drag reduction and aircraft noise reduction are just a few examples of DBD plasma actuators active flow control applications. Besides the flow control applications, plasma actuators are also promising devices for film cooling, deicing and ice sensing applications. Aerodynamic drag is a major problem in ground vehicles for example for heavy highway vehicles it represents 65% of the total drag. Considering this it is of high importance to study the physics of the flow over ground vehicles and find solutions to reduce the aerodynamic drag. In this topic plasma actuators may have a high important role. By delaying the flow separation and reducing the wake of the flow, plasma actuators allow to reduce the drag which, in turn, will lead to important savings in terms of fuel consumption. In the current work the operation of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators is studied considering their application for active flow control in ground vehicles. A plasma actuator will be fabricated and experimentally characterized in terms of electrical and mechanical features. A model of a ground vehicle with different rears will be constructed and preliminary tests will be performed in a wind tunnel. The dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator will be implemented on the top rear part of the model, in the first separation zone of the flow, in order to attach the flow to the surface and reduce the wake flow. The experimental tests will be performed for rear slant angles of 300, 450 and 600. The different vehicle models will be tested for a flow velocity of 5m/s. Flow visualization and velocity measurements will be performed in order to analyze the flow behavior and the active flow control effect obtained by the plasma actuation. It will be shown that by using plasma actuators on the rear of the model, the plasma actuation will pull the flow toward the surface and reduce the wake of the flow.

Analysis and Implementation of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Ground Vehicles Wake Reduction

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/FEDSM/FEDSM2021/volume/85284

ASME 2021 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting (FEDSM2021)

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