Effect of Plasma Actuator on Flow Field.

In order to study the influence of the plasma actuator on the air flow in more detail, the effect of the plasma actuator on the flow field was simplified to the volume force of the electric field. Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes method and transition SST turbulence model were used to simulate the air flow field at different loading voltage, power frequency and inflow velocity. The results show that the higher the loading voltage and power frequency of the plasma actuator, the stronger the effect of the actuator on the flow field. The induced velocity increases non-linearly with increasing loading voltage, however, the increasing rate is getting slower and slower. When the voltage rises to about 30 kV, the acceleration effect of the actuator to air reaches the limit. The induced velocity increases linearly with the increase of the power frequency, but the change of the power frequency does not affect the operating range of the actuator in the vertical direction. Provided that parameters such as loading voltage and power frequency are constant, the higher the inflow velocity, the weaker the actuator’s effect on the flow field. And the higher velocity inflow obviously suppresses the range of the actuator in the vertical direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]