Nanosecond pulsed sliding dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator for airflow control: Electrical, optical, and mechanical characteristics

Plasma actuators used for active flow control are widely studied because they could replace mechanical actuators. Industrial applications of these plasma actuators sometimes require a large surface plasma sheet in view of increasing the interaction region between the discharge and the incoming flow. Instead of using a typical two-electrode nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge for which the interaction region is limited to about 20 mm, this study proposes to characterize a nanosecond sliding discharge based on a three-electrode geometry in order to increase the extension length up to the electrode gap. This sliding discharge is compared to the typical nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge by means of electrical, optical, and mechanical diagnostics. Electrical characterization reveals that the deposited energy can be widely increased. Time-resolved Intensified Charge Coupled Device (iCCD) images of the discharge development over the dielectric surface highlight that the intensity and the propagation velocity of streamers are strongly affected by the DC voltage applied at the third electrode. Finally, qualitative and quantitative characterizations of the pressure wave due to the surrounding gas heating are proposed by means of Schlieren visualizations and high frequency pressure measurements, respectively. (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.