Separation Control Using Plasma Actuators: Dynamic Stall Vortex Control on Oscillating Airfoil

A plasma actuator was used to control leading-edge flow separation and dynamic stall vortex on a periodically oscillated NACA 0015 airfoil. The effectiveness of the actuator was documented through phase-conditioned surface pressure measurements and smoke flow visualization records. The airfoil was driven in a periodic cycle corresponding to α = 15 deg+10deg sinwt. The results presented here are for a reduced frequency of k = ωc/2U ∞ = 0.08. Three cases of control with the plasma actuator were investigated: open-loop control with steady plasma actuation, open-loop control with unsteady plasma actuation, and closed-loop control with steady plasma actuation. For closed-loop control, the actuator was activated in selected portions of the oscillatory cycle based on angle-of-attack feedback. All of the cases investigated exhibited an increase in cycle-integrated lift with improvements in the lift-cycle hysteresis. In two cases, the pitch-moment stall angle was delayed and in one of these, the adverse negative moment peak was significantly reduced.

[1]  K. W. Noonan,et al.  Design And Evaluation Of Multi-Element Airfoils For Rotorcraft , 1999 .

[2]  Eric J. Jumper,et al.  Mechanisms and Responses of a Single Dielectric Barrier Plasma Actuator: Plasma Morphology , 2004 .

[3]  Edwin W. Aiken,et al.  Future Directions in Rotorcraft Technology at Ames Research Center , 2000 .

[4]  Michael S. Torok,et al.  Techniques for Comprehensive Measurement of Model Helicopter Rotor Aerodynamics , 1994 .

[5]  Thomas Corke,et al.  Plasma Actuators for Separation Control of Low Pressure Turbine Blades , 2003 .

[6]  Mukund Acharya,et al.  Control of the dynamic-stall vortex over a pitching airfoil by leading-edge suction , 1993 .

[7]  Avi Seifert,et al.  Oscillatory Excitation of Unsteady Compressible Flows over Airfoils at Flight Reynolds Numbers , 1999 .

[8]  J. Gordon Leishman,et al.  Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics , 2000 .

[9]  P. Lorber,et al.  Computational and experimental studies of compressible dynamic stall , 1990 .

[10]  Lennart S. Hultgren,et al.  Demonstration of Separation Delay With Glow-Discharge Plasma Actuators , 2003 .

[11]  William G. Bousman,et al.  A Qualitative Examination of Dynamic Stall from Flight Test Data , 1997 .

[12]  E. Jumper,et al.  Mechanisms and Responses of a Dielectric Barrier Plasma Actuator: Geometric Effects , 2004 .

[13]  I. Wygnanski,et al.  Delay of Airfoil Stall by Periodic Excitation , 1996 .

[14]  Steven P. Grohsmeyer.  Numerical investigation of the effect of leading edge geometry on dynamic stall of airfoils , 1991 .

[15]  L. Carr,et al.  Compressibility effects on dynamic stall , 1996 .

[16]  Peter Lorber,et al.  Compressibility effects on the dynamic stall of a three-dimensional wing , 1992 .

[17]  Brian E. Wake,et al.  Rotorcraft retreating blade stall control , 2000 .

[18]  T. Corke,et al.  Separation Control on HIgh Angle of Attack Airfoil Using Plasma Actuators , 2004 .

[19]  Soogab Lee,et al.  Dynamic Stall Control for Advanced Rotorcraft Application , 1995 .

[20]  Thomas Corke,et al.  Plasma Actuators for Landing Gear Noise Reduction , 2005 .

[21]  Peter F. Lorber,et al.  Airfoil dynamic stall at constant pitch rate and high Reynolds number , 1987 .

[22]  T. Mueller.  On the historical development of apparatus and techniques for smoke visualization of subsonic and supersonic flows , 1980 .

[23]  Miguel Visbal.  Effect of compressibility on dynamic stall of a pitching airfoil , 1988 .

[24]  Eric J. Jumper,et al.  APPLICATION OF WEAKLY-IONIZED PLASMAS AS WING FLOW-CONTROL DEVICES , 2002 .

[25]  Thomas Corke,et al.  Plasma Flaps and Slats: An Application of Weakly Ionized Plasma Actuators , 2004 .

[26]  Thomas Corke.  Design of Aircraft , 2002 .

[27]  Martiqua L. Post,et al.  Plasma Actuators for Separation Control on Stationary and Oscillating Airfoils , 2004 .

[28]  I. Wygnanski,et al.  Oscillatory Blowing: A Tool to Delay Boundary-Layer Separation , 1993 .

[29]  Peretz P. Friedmann,et al.  Vibration reduction in rotorcraft using active control - A comparison of various approaches , 1995 .

[30]  Israel J Wygnanski,et al.  The control of flow separation by periodic excitation , 2000 .

[31]  Stephen P. Wilkinson,et al.  Investigation of an Oscillating Surface Plasma for Turbulent Drag Reduction , 2003 .