Active Control of Separation Flow around Airfoil Using DBD Plasma Actuator

抄録

Dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators (DBD-PA) have been investigated for active control of flow separation around a MEL001 laminar airfoil. Tangential wall-jets with various speeds were produced in the vicinity of the DBD-PA at 30% chord position downstream from the leading edge of the airfoil. The flow separation control ability was evaluated at low Reynolds number, Re = 1.0×10⁴, in an open-circuit blower type wind tunnel with 200mm×200mm×600mm test section. By analyzing instantaneous and time-averaged velocity distributions around the airfoil using a particle image velocimetry system, the flow conditions induced by the DBD-PA to suppress the flow separation and minimize the drag coefficient were found for angles of attack α = 4.2^ο, 8.4^ο, and 12.0^ο degrees. At these angles, the lift-to-drag ratio of MEL001 airfoil drops significantly in this low Reynolds number regime, and our results suggest that the DBD-PA produces a significant performance improvement.