Experimental study of DBD plasma actuator with combination of AC and nanosecond pulse voltage

In the last decade, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators using a combination voltage of AC and a nanosecond pulse have been studied. The combined-voltage-driven plasma actuator increases the body force effect, including wall jet and flow suction, by overlapping the nanosecond pulse voltage, while the DBD plasma actuator driven by nanosecond pulses is a flow control actuator generating compression waves due to pulse heating, which makes it possible to supply an active flow control at a high-speed flow, reported as up to Mach 0.7. In this study, a DBD plasma actuator driven by a combination voltage of sinusoidal AC and nanosecond pulse was experimentally investigated. The time-averaged net thrust and cycle-averaged power consumption of the actuator were characterized by using an electrical weight balance and the charge-voltage cycle of a DBD plasma actuator, respectively. The plasma actuator thrust driven with the combination voltage showed increased thrust with increasing pulse repetition rate. The energy consumption of the actuator was controlled by varying the AC phase when the nanosecond pulse was applied. Therefore, the thrust and power consumption in the actuator were almost independently controlled by the pulse repetition rate and the pulse imposed phase.