Flow control over a conical forebody using pulsed nanosecond discharge actuators

The study of a pair of single Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuator which is placed on the surface near the apex of a cone-cylinder body with a semi-apex angle of 10° is presented. The two SDBD plasma actuators are aligned on the cone at azimuth angle θ = ±90° symmetrically and sustained by a repetitive high voltage nanosecond pulses generator. The pressure distribution over the test section is measured through pressure-tappings on the model surface. Based on the features of conical pressure-distribution studied before, the pressure distribution of one cross section could represent the pressure distribution over the entire cone at the angle of attack of 45 ° . The lateral force of the cone is obtained by integrating the pressure distributions. Tests are performed at 22 m/s and 42 m/s with the Reynolds number 1.64 × 10 5 and 3.09 × 10 5 based on the cone base diameter respectively. The test results show that the port actuation has the opposite effect to the starboard the actuation in changing the pressure distribution. As the wind speed increased, the plasma actuator effect well gradually. The side force of the cone-cylinder model can be manipulated by activating the plasma actuator in the test at 42 m/s.