Flow control over a circular cylinder using virtual moving surface boundary layer control

Abstract

Abstract: Flow control study of a circular cylinder is carried out using symmetric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators at the Reynolds number of 10,000. Here, two symmetric DBD plasma actuators are located at the top and bottom of the circular cylinder, respectively, each of which induces pairs of counter-rotating starting vortices on both sides of exposed electrodes. The downstream starting vortices soon take the form of a wall jet along the freestream direction. On the other hand, the upstream starting vortices interact with the incoming flow remain for some time, bringing in high momentum from the freestream to near-wall region, enabling the boundary layer to withstand the adverse pressure gradient and suppressing the separation around the circular cylinder. The rotating vortical structures around the circular cylinder created by the plasma actuators lead to a reduction in the drag coefficient of up to 25%, providing a similar effect to moving surface boundary layer control (MSBLC). This configuration of symmetric DBD plasma actuator, which is studied for the first time in this investigation, is, therefore, called virtual MSBLC. Our results also indicated that the control effect of virtual MSBLC can be enhanced with an increase in the momentum coefficient of plasma jet. Unlike traditional MSBLC devices, the virtual MSBLC based on symmetric DBD plasma actuators do not have profile drag and are without complicated mechanical systems. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].