On Mechanism of Plasma-shock-based Flow Control

摘要

The mechanism of plasma-shock-based flow control was studied. Due to the high reduced electric field strength and peak power in the nanosecond discharge, a large quantity of high-energy electrons are produced. The quenching of the electronically excited states of N_(2), the dissociation of O_(2) and N_(2), and the recombination of molecular ions with electrons cause fast heating of local air near the electrode edge and fast air pressure rise, thus inducing shock waves. The effectiveness of using nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation to improve flow separation control capability was validated at the freestream velocity of 150 m/s. Critical stall angle, lift and drag of NACA 0015 airfoil were measured with and without the nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation in the wind tunnel experiments.