Plasma actuation for aerodynamic and noise performance enhancement

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Increasing fossil fuel prices and environmental pressures are pushing the air transport industry toward aircraft that are more cost effective to acquire and operate and society toward cleaner renewable energy sources. An innovative research program is proposed to analyze in detail pioneering flow control concepts with plasma actuators to make quieter and more efficient airplanes as well as aircraft and wind turbines that are less expensive to manufacture and to better assess the applicability of these concepts at real operating conditions. Flow control consists of introducing small perturbations to the flow at strategic locations to have a disproportionately large positive impact on the flow field. It is a potentially key technology to provide a step change in aerodynamic performance to respond to the above challenges. The plasma actuator is a new type of flow control device that can accelerate flow adjacent to the surface by partial ionization of the air. Being simple, typically low-powered and devoid of moving parts, the plasma actuator could be the breakthrough device that makes flow control technology widespread in the aerospace and energy sectors. This research will use the latest development in plasma actuator technology to optimize via numerical parametric studies and detailed experimental validation novel flow control concepts in two areas. The first is lift change to produce cost-efficient future aircraft wings and wind turbine blades devoid of movable components. The second is the suppression of aerodynamic instabilities, vibrations and noise associated with aircraft engines to make more efficient, reliable and quieter propulsion systems. Additional research will be carried out to improve plasma actuator strength and assess actuator behaviour over ranges of pressure, temperature and humidity associated with full-scale applications.