Huijie Yan

Effect of a direct current bias on the electrohydrodynamic performance of a surface dielectric barrier discharge actuator for airflow control

The effect of a DC bias on the electrohydrodynamics (EHD) force induced by a surface dielectric barrier AC discharge actuator for airflow control at the atmospheric pressure is investigated. The measurement of the surface potential due to charge deposition at different DC biases is carried out by using a special designed corona like discharge potential probe. From the surface potential data, the plasma electromotive force is shown not affected much by the DC biases except for some reduction of the DC bias near the exposed electrode edge for the sheath-like configuration. The total thrust is measured by an analytical balance, and an almost linear relationship to the potential voltage at the exposed electrode edge is found for the direct thrust force. The temporally averaged ionic wind characteristics are investigated by Pitot tube sensor and schlieren visualization system. It is found that the ionic wind velocity profiles with different DC biases are almost the same in the AC discharge plasma area but grad...

Airflow acceleration performance of asymmetric surface dielectric barrier discharge actuators at different exposed needle electrode heights

The use of plasma, created by asymmetric surfacedielectric barrier discharge (ASDBD), as aerodynamic actuators to control airflows, has been of widespread concern over the past decades. For the single ASDBD, the actuator performance is dependent on the geometry of actuator and the produced plasma. In this work, a new electrode configuration, i.e., a row of needle, is taken as an exposed electrode for the ASDBD plasma actuator, and the electrode height is adjustable. The effects of different electrode heights on the airflow acceleration behavior are experimentally investigated by measuringsurface potential distribution, ionic wind velocity, and mean thrust force production. It is demonstrated that the airflow velocity and thrust force increase with the exposed electrode height and the best actuator performance can be obtained when the exposed electrode is adjusted to an appropriate height. The difference, as analyzed, is mainly due to the distinct plasma spatial distributions at different exposed electrode heights.

Influence of residual charge on repetitively nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharges in atmospheric air

The plane-to-plane dielectric barrier discharge within 5 mm air gap driven by repetitive nanosecond pulses is studied. A water resistance (WR) is connected in parallel with the discharge circuit. For the discharge without the WR, two reverse discharges occur in the falling front of the voltage pulse, and besides, the primary discharge occurs in the rising front. For the discharge with the WR, only the primary discharge takes place, and the voltage waveform is changed into the unipolar positive voltage pulse with the elevated fall time. Additionally, the discharge with the WR displays the intermediate between the traditional diffuse and filamentary modes. Moreover, the uniformity of the discharge with the WR is increased as the pulse repetition frequency decreases from 1200 Hz to 100 Hz. The above observations in the discharge with the WR are mainly attributed to the increase in the residual charge at the inception of the following pulsed discharge.

The impacts of magnetic field on repetitive nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in air

In this paper, the impacts of the parallel magnetic field on the repetitive nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) are experimentally investigated by optical and electrical measurements. The DBD is generated between two parallel-plate electrodes in the ambient air with the stationary magnetic field on the order of 1 T. The experimental results show that additional microdischarge channels are generated and the photocurrent intensity of the plasma is increased by the magnetic field. The microdischarge channels develop along the magnetic field lines and the diffuse background emission of the discharge is stronger in the DBD with the magnetic field. As the pulse repetition frequency decreases from 1200 Hz to 100 Hz, only the photocurrent intensity of the third discharge that occurred at about 500 ns is noticeably increased by the additional magnetic field. It is believed that the enhancement of the memory effect and the confinement of the magnetic field on electrons are the main reasons.

Surface Cleaning Using an Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet in

An atmospheric-pressure plasma jet generated in O2/Ar mixtures by specially designed equipment with two coaxial quartz tubes and double power electrodes has been investigated, and its effect on the cleaning of surface organic contaminations has been studied. The Q-V Lissajous figures are performed to evaluate the power consumed in the discharge and show no great modification in consumed power with the increase in the oxygen flow rate. From the results of the optical emission spectra, remarkably high oxygen radical concentration is obtained at a 1.5% addition of O2 to Ar and then decreases with the further increase in the O2/Ar mixing ratio. The effect of the surface cleaning by O2/Ar-based plasma is studied with respect to the changes in the contact angle. An addition of O2 to Ar decreases the contact angle, and the lowest contact angle is obtained at a 1.5% addition of O2 to Ar. However, further addition of oxygen does not show further improvement in the contact angle. From the results of quadrupole mass-spectrum analysis, we can identify the fragment molecules of CO and H2O in the emitted gases, which are produced by the decomposition of the surface organic contaminations during the cleaning process.

\hbox{O}_{2}/\hbox{Ar}

Atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) accompanied by airflow has attracted a significant attention for its extensive applications. In this paper, the effects of airflow on the characteristics of the atmospheric air DBD plasma are experimentally investigated using the DBD reactor excited by a 15 kHz AC power source. In order to study the discharge filaments distribution at different flow rates, transparent conductive indium tin oxide film is used as the upper electrode, and quartz glasses are used as insulated dielectrics. Experiment results prove that the breakdown voltage is decreased and more current pulses with declined amplitudes are produced when the airflow is introduced into the discharge gap. It is confirmed that although the discharge seems to be diffuse in the presence of airflow to the naked eyes, the discharge mode remains filamentary in the intensified charge-coupled device images within a single AC cycle. By acquiring the images with a different exposure time, it can be rec...

Mixtures

Asymmetric surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) plasma actuators have been intensely studied for a number of years due to their potential applications for aerodynamic control. In this paper, four types of actuators with different configurations of exposed electrode are proposed. The SDBD actuators investigated are driven by dual-power supply, referred to as a fixed AC high voltage and an adjustable DC bias. The effects of the electrode structures on the dielectric surface potential distribution, the electric wind velocity, and the mean thrust production are studied, and the dominative factors of airflow acceleration behavior are revealed. The results have shown that the actions of the SDBD actuator are mainly dependent on the geometry of the exposed electrode. Besides, the surface potential distribution can effectively affect the airflow acceleration behavior. With the application of an appropriate additional DC bias, the surface potential will be modified. As a result, the performance of the electric wind produced by a single SDBD can be significantly improved. In addition, the work also illustrates that the actuators with more negative surface potential present better mechanical performance.

Effects of airflow on the distribution of filaments in atmospheric AC dielectric barrier discharge

Surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD), used as the plasma actuator for airflow control at atmospheric pressure, has been widely concerned over the past decades. In this work, four different electrode configurations, i.e., copper mesh, thin wire, blade, and aluminum foil, are chosen as exposed electrodes for the SDBD plasma actuator. The different effects of the four structures on the airflow acceleration behavior are experimentally investigated through the discharge current, surface potential distribution, ionic wind velocity, and mean thrust production. The result shows that the actuator with the copper mesh exposed electrode can generate the maximal induced force, while the actuator with the aluminum foil exposed electrode can generate the minimal induced force. This difference, as analyzed, is mainly due to the distinct discharge characteristics, i.e., different discharge asymmetry and surface potential, caused by the specifically designed exposed electrode configurations. This paper illustrates that the actuator with low surface potential has preferable mechanical performance.

Surface potential distribution and airflow performance of different air-exposed electrode plasma actuators at different alternating current/direct current voltages

In this work, a driven voltage consisting of AC high voltage with a superimposed positive pulse bias voltage (“AC+ Positive pulse bias” voltage) is adopted to study the performance of a surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator under atmospheric conditions. To compare the performance of the actuator driven by single-AC voltage and “AC+ Positive pulse bias” voltage, the actuator-induced thrust force and power consumption are measured as a function of the applied AC voltage, and the measured results indicate that the thrust force can be promoted significantly after superimposing the positive pulse bias voltage. The physical mechanism behind the thrust force changes is analyzed by measuring the optical properties, electrical characteristics, and surface potential distribution. Experimental results indicate that the glow-like discharge in the AC voltage half-cycle, next to the cycle where a bias voltage pulse has been applied, is enhanced after applying the positive pulse bias voltage, and this per...

Geometry Effects of SDBD Actuator on Atmospheric-Pressure Discharge Plasma Airflow Acceleration

The characteristics of a plate-to-plate AC surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) actuator using the pulse-induced breakdown enhancing method are experimentally investigated. The encapsulated electrode is supplied with a sine high AC voltage, while the exposed electrode is feed by a synchronized pulse voltage. Based on the thrust force and power consumption measurements, a parametric study was performed using a positive pulse applied at the trough phase of the AC cycles in which the thrust force was observed to increase by about 100% to 300% and the efficiency up to about 100% compared with the AC-only supply conditions for different AC voltages within the tested range. The pulse-induced breakdown effect was analyzed from the electrical and light emission waveforms to reveal the underlying mechanism. The surface potential due to the charge deposition effect was also measured using a specially designed corona-like discharge potential probe. It is shown that the pulse-induced breakdown was able to cause a temporarily intensified local electric field to enhance the glow-like discharge and meanwhile increase the time-average surface potential in the region further downstream. The improvement in the force by the enhancement in the pulse-induced breakdown was mainly due to enhancements in the glow-like discharge and the surface potential increment, with the latter being more important when the AC voltage is higher.