1. Numerical research on airfoil transition delay by alternative current dielectric barrier discharge actuation
- Author
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Fei Liu, Hua Liang, Zhiwen Ding, Yinghong Li, Bei Liu, Zhong-Hua Han, and Jiangbo Chi
- Subjects
Airfoil ,0209 industrial biotechnology ,Materials science ,Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) ,Mechanical Engineering ,Efficiency analysis ,Aerospace Engineering ,Laminar flow ,TL1-4050 ,02 engineering and technology ,Dielectric barrier discharge ,Mechanics ,Plasma flow control ,01 natural sciences ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,Boundary layer ,020901 industrial engineering & automation ,Linear stability analysis ,Transition point ,Drag ,Plasma transition delay ,0103 physical sciences ,Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations ,Plasma actuator ,Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics - Abstract
A Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuator can create a body force which locally accelerates the base flow leading to an attenuation of broadband disturbance to delay the transition. In this study, numerical simulation on an NLF0416 airfoil is conducted to investigate transition delay and drag reduction by a DBD plasma actuator. To simulate plasma’s effect more accurately, boundary-layer data is acquired from Reynolds Averaged Navier Stocks (RANS) equations instead of laminar boundary layer equations, although RANS equations need a much finer boundary-layer grid, and the linear stability analysis method is used to analyze the boundary layer and get the transition point. In this study, the influences of different actuation intensities and positions are investigated, and results show that if the actuation intensity is stronger and the actuation position is closer to the base transition point, more drag reduction can be obtained. However, the efficiency of plasma transition delay is really low. For example, when the actuation voltage is 16 kV, the actuation frequency is 1 kHz, and the main Mach number is 0.1, the saved power due to drag reduction is about 5.09 W, but the power consumed is about 32.61 W, and the efficiency is just 15.6%.
- Published
- 2021