Physical Mechanism of Dual-Grounded Trielectrode Plasma Actuator

To enhance the performance of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator, a dual-grounded trielectrode plasma actuator, which has an electrically grounded and insulated third electrode on the alternating-current electrode, was suggested. In this research, the discharge structures, body force fields, and flowfield of the conventional dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator and the dual-grounded trielectrode plasma actuator were investigated with a plasma simulation and a fluid simulation to clarify the performance improvement mechanism of the dual-grounded trielectrode plasma actuator. First, the validity of the simulation results was confirmed by comparing the results between the experiment and the simulation. Next, a detailed investigation of the plasma structures, the body force fields, and the flow velocity distributions was conducted. As a result, the following performance improvement mechanism was clarified. The body force generated near the alternating-current electrode edge effectively acc...