Flow Control with Electrohydrodynamic Actuators

G ARTANA; J. D'ADAMO; LUC LEGER; ERIC MOREAU; GERARD TOUCHARD

AIAA - AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS

AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT

Año: 2002 vol. 40 p. 1773 - 1779

0001-1452

This work analyses the ability of an electrohydrodynamic actuator to modify the characteristics of a flow over a flat plate. The device considered uses flush mounted electrodes and a d.c. power supply to create a plasma sheet on the surface of the plate. We analyze the mechanism of formation of this plasma sheet, which has some similarities with the phenomenon of streamer formation. We present in this work experimental results concerning flow visualizations obtained at low flow velocities (»1m/s) and velocity fields obtained with a Particle Image Velocimetry technique for higher flow velocities (range 11.0-17.5 m/s). These results show that the discharge can induce an important acceleration of the flow close to the surface.