Book Description

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are a technology which could replace conventional actuators due to their simple construction, lack of moving parts, and fast response. This type of actuator modifies the airflow due to electrohydrodynamic (EHD) force. The EHD phenomenon occurs due to the momentum transfer from charged species accelerated by an electric field to neutral molecules by collision. This chapter presents a study carried out to investigate experimentally and by numerical simulations a micro-scale plasma actuator. A microplasma requires a low discharge voltage to generate about 1 kV at atmospheric pressure. A multi-electrode microplasma actuator was used which allowed the electrodes to be energized at different potentials or waveforms, thus changing the direction of the flow. The modification of the flow at various time intervals was tracked by a high-speed camera. The numerical simulation was carried out using the Suzen-Huang model and the Navier-Stokes equations.