Flow Control over a Conical Forebody Using Duty-Cycled Plasma Actuators

A tangentially-blowing surface-mount single-dielectric-barrier-discharge (SDBD) plasma actuator is designed and implemented for the control of the vortex flow over a slender conical body at high angles of attack. Control is accomplished by employing a pair of such actuators symmetrically mounted on the leeward surface near the apex. Detailed wind-tunnel measurements of pressure distribution and the integrated lateral force and moment coefficients on the cone with and without the actuatorsare presented. Almost linear proportional control of the mean lateral loads on the body is achieved by varying the duty cycle for the alternate activation of the two actuators.