Antoine Belinger

Plasma synthetic jet actuator: electrical and optical analysis of the discharge

Active flow control is based on the development of robust actuators which are reliable, small and easy to integrate. A promising actuator referred to as plasma synthetic jet actuator produces a synthetic jet with high exhaust velocities and holds the promise of enabling high-speed flows. With this high velocity jet, it is possible to reduce fluid phenomena such as transition and turbulence, thus making it possible to increase an aircrafts performance whilst at the same time reducing its environmental impact. This high velocity jet is produced by a pulsed discharge in a microcavity. In this paper, we focus on the properties of the discharge in order to understand the functioning of the actuator. In the first part an electrical description of the discharge in presented. Afterwards, optical measurements (optical emission spectroscopy and ICCD photograph) enable the determination of temperature, volume and duration of the discharge. At the end of the paper we present an electrical model of the discharge, which can be obtained both from electrical measurements and from macroscopic properties of the discharge (temperature, volume). This electrical model can easily be included in electrical simulation software.

Plasma Synthetic Jet for flow control

The necessity of having an efficient actuator to control flow has driven ONERA to develop a pioneer actuator called Plasma Synthetic Jet (PSJ). This actuator was inspired by the John Hopkins University device. It produces a high exhaust velocity jet using electrical power. This paper presents advances in characterization of its performances by using experimental and numerical approaches with the objectives of controlling flow. Then practical application of the PSJ interaction with a main flow is shown.

Influence of the Spark Discharge Size on a Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator

The plasma synthetic jet, which produces a synthetic jet with high exhaust velocities, is very attractive for aerodynamic purposes. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how the size of the discharge (evaluate using short-exposure-time pictures of the discharge) influences the jet velocity (determined through the use of Schlieren images).

On the nature of the discharges in samples fed by bipolar pulse like voltage and its possible impact on the detection of partial discharge in machines fed by inverter

This paper deals with Partial Discharge (PD) detection in a twisted pair fed by a bipolar square shape voltage using a non-intrusive sensor. These discharges are hardly detected, yet harmful, in such an environment and it may be caused by the nature of the discharge itself. Thus, the aim of this work is to investigate the nature of the discharge using an intensified CCD camera to follow the temporal evolution of the light distribution on a controlled sample.

Adding of Nitrogen in Helium DBD: Consequences on the Self-Organization of the Discharge

Depending on the operating conditions, different regimes can be obtained in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD): filamentary, diffuse/homogeneous, or self-organized. For a planeto-plane DBD operated at high frequency (150 kHz) and at atmospheric pressure in helium gas, we show that the addition of a small amount of nitrogen induces a transition from the homogenous regime to a self-organized regime characterized by the appearance of several stable strips always located at the same position.

DBD tranformerless power supplies: impact of the parasitic capacitances on the power transfer

A new transformerless power supply for DBD application is presented here. The power supply is built with 10kV SiC MOSFET. This high voltage switches allow holding the high voltage required by the DBD. An analytical study of the converters operation is presented to deduce the power transmitted to the DBD. A comparison between the experimental and theoretical electrical waveforms is shown. The experimental waveforms are particularly affected by all the parasitic capacitances. When all the switches are in OFF state, oscillations cause over-voltages across the switches. An analysis of the effect of each capacitance is presented and demonstrates that the parasitic capacitances of the switches and of the inductance play a key role in the actual power transfer.

Influence of a square pulse voltage on argon-ethyl lactate discharges and their plasma-deposited coatings using time-resolved spectroscopy and surface characterization

By comparing time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements and the predictions of a collisional-radiative model, the evolutions of electron temperature (Te) and number density of argon metastable atoms [n(Arm)] were determined in argon-ethyl lactate dielectric barrier discharges. The influence of a square pulse power supply on Te, n(Arm), and discharge current is evaluated and correlated with the chemistry and the topography of plasma-deposited coatings. Pulsed discharges were found to have shorter (100 ns) but stronger (1 A) current peaks and higher electron temperatures (0.7 eV) than when using a 35 kHz sinusoidal power supply (2 μs, 30 mA, 0.3 eV). The n(Arm) values seemed to be rather stable around 1011 cm−3 with a sinus power supply. In contrast, with a pulse power supply with long time off (i.e., time without discharge) between each pulse, a progressive increase in n(Arm) from 1011 cm−3 up to 1012–1013 cm−3 was observed. When the time off was reduced, this increase was measured in sync with the current peak. The chemical composition of the coatings was not significantly affected by using a pulse signal, whereas the topography was strongly influenced and led to powder formations when reducing the time off.By comparing time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements and the predictions of a collisional-radiative model, the evolutions of electron temperature (Te) and number density of argon metastable atoms [n(Arm)] were determined in argon-ethyl lactate dielectric barrier discharges. The influence of a square pulse power supply on Te, n(Arm), and discharge current is evaluated and correlated with the chemistry and the topography of plasma-deposited coatings. Pulsed discharges were found to have shorter (100 ns) but stronger (1 A) current peaks and higher electron temperatures (0.7 eV) than when using a 35 kHz sinusoidal power supply (2 μs, 30 mA, 0.3 eV). The n(Arm) values seemed to be rather stable around 1011 cm−3 with a sinus power supply. In contrast, with a pulse power supply with long time off (i.e., time without discharge) between each pulse, a progressive increase in n(Arm) from 1011 cm−3 up to 1012–1013 cm−3 was observed. When the time off was reduced, this increase was measured in sync wi...

Overvoltage at motor terminals in SiC-based PWM drives

Key points in the development of More Electrical Aircraft (MEA) are currently DC power distribution in higher voltage levels (540 V) and the use of disruptive technology such as Wide BandGap (WBG) semiconductors in power inverters. Using WBG components (SiC and GaN) increases the power converter mass density. However, fast switching of WBG components (tens of kV/s) induces voltage transient overshoots due to parasitic elements within the inverter. In addition, propagation and reflection phenomena along the harness connected to this inverter, even for small lengths, cause a significant voltage overshoot across the loads. Such overvoltage in Adjustable Speed Drives (ASD: association of inverter, harness and motor) supplied by the new HVDC 540 V aeronautical network could be fatal for the Electrical Insulation System (EIS). This paper proposes a fast and accurate modeling methodology to predict transient overvoltage; it allows us to analyze the impact of SiC inverter technology on overvoltage at motor terminals.

Parametric study of dielectric barrier discharge excimer UV lamps supplied with controlled square current pulses

A parametric study of a system dedicated to non-coherent UV emission, by means of DBD excilamps, supplied by a controlled square shape current source is proposed. The presentation highlights on the one hand the performances experimentally obtained by combining together a set of 20 different bulbs with different diameters, gap and wall thicknesses (all the bulbs have the same length and are filled with the same Xe-Cl gas mixture), with different electrical power supplying conditions: magnitude, frequency (in the 30 kHz – 200 kHz range) and duty cycle of the square shape current pulses injected into the bulb. The performances concern the average UV power, the efficiency of the bulb conversion (electrical power to UV) and the adjustability of the power. On the second hand, we present design considerations of the power supply which has been especially developed for the purpose of these experiments.