Dielectric Barrier Discharge: Discharge Regions and Empirical Modeling of Electromechanical Performance

Active flow control within fluid boundary layers is recognized as crucial in enhancing the operational efficiency and control authority for several applications, such as aircraft to wind turbines. Non-thermal plasma (NTP), generated via dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), presents itself as a compelling alternative in the context of traditional active flow control methodologies. Nevertheless, it is important to improve the performance of DBD actuators and enable their broad-range practical adoption. The present study parameterizes the DBD performance for a variety of materials and operational conditions. Distinct operational regions are identified and characterized. Direct thrust and velocity measurements are taken over the AC frequency range, voltages, dielectric material, and dielectric thickness. By optimizing these variables, we have reached single-stage DBD thrusts > 80 mN/m and peak velocities surpassing 6 m/s. Extrapolating from our previous experimental dataset [1], we have formulated an empirical model for electrohydrodynamic thrust as a function of AC frequency, AC voltage, and properties of the dielectric.