Numerical Simualtion of Plasma Actuators for 3-D Flow Control Applications

Numerical Simulation of Plasma Actuators for 3-D Flow Control Applications Abstract The purpose of the current research is to develop a 3-D numerical simulation methodology for plasma actuators used in flow control applications in order to enable design, development, and application of optimized plasma actuator configurations and associated control systems for flow separation control applications. The proposed method incorporates effects of the plasma actuators on the external flow into Navier Stokes computations as a body force vector, which is given as a product of the net charge density and the electric field. The model computes this body force vector by solving two additional equations: one for the electric field due to the applied AC voltage at the electrodes and the other for the charge density representing the ionized air. The present work includes 3-D model development, calibration, and validation using available experimental data. The numerical modeling method will directly impact the design and development of more effective flow control systems by enabling optimization of design of plasma actuators including actuator geometry, electrode and dielectric properties selection, voltage amplitude, frequency, and waveform shape for specific flow control applications and by allowing testing of new control strategies before the devices are fabricated..