Journal Article
Study of the Plasma Actuator Effect on the Flow Characteristics of an Airfoil: An LES Investigation
2021-03-02
2021-01-0016
The impetus of this study is to investigate the effect of using multi dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuator (DBDPA) over the 3D-airfoil surface and improve the performance of it. Two designed DBDPAs are placed at the leading edge and a distance of x/c = 0.3 chord of the NACA 634-021 three dimensional (3D) airfoil. We solved the flow at different chord-based Reynolds numbers and in a wide range of angles of attack (AoA) (12∘ ≤ α ≤ 24∘), using a large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence model, which is implemented under the OpenFOAM package framework. Here, detailed flow mechanism analyses, i.e., three-dimensional vortical structure, separation phenomenon, lift and drag coefficients, variation fluctuations and spanwise flow, are investigated around the airfoil 3D. Massive flow separation and transient aerodynamic loads acting on the airfoil have been significantly suppressed by optimized flow control using the DBDPAs in the airfoil.