Forcing mechanisms of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators at carrier frequency of 625 Hz

摘要

The forcing behavior of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuator is investigated experimentally using a time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) system in conjunction with a phase shifting technique. The spatio-temporal evolution of the induced flowfield is accurately captured within one high voltage (HV) cycle allowing the calculation of the instantaneous velocity and acceleration. Additional voltage and current measurements provide the power consumption for each case. Four different applied voltage waveform shapes are independently tested, namely, sine, square, positive sawtooth, and negative sawtooth at fixed applied voltage (10 kVpp) and carrier frequency (625 Hz). The instantaneous flowfields reveal the effect of the plasma forcing during the HV cycle. Sine waveform provides large positive forcing during the forward stroke, with minimal but still positive forcing during the backward stroke. Square waveform provides strong and concentrated positive and negative forcing at the beginning of the forward and backward stroke, respectively. Positive sawtooth provides positive but weak forcing during both strokes while the negative sawtooth case produces observable forcing only during the forward stroke. Results indicate the inherent importance of negative ions on the force production mechanisms of DBD’s. Furthermore, the revealed influence of the waveform shape on the force production can provide guidelines for the design of custom asymmetric waveforms for the improvement of the actuator’s performance.