Active flow control on a NACA 23012 airfoil model by means of magnetohydrodynamic plasma actuator

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of high speed flow control around the airfoil by means of the Lorentz force. The latter is formed by creating the pulsed arc filament, moving in the magnetic field along the upper airfoil surface. The research was performed for the NACA23012 airfoil model at flow velocities up to 60 m/s (134 mph). The dynamic measurement of the aerodynamic forces on the airfoil was made. Changes up to 5% in an average value of lift and pitching moment were obtained at pulse repetition frequency up to 13 Hz and average discharge power less than 200 W. The amplitude of lift force oscillation was obtained as high as 10%, with the integration time of the balance 30 ms. The dynamic flow visualization of an airfoil model after a single discharge ignition was performed. It is shown that interaction of the main flow with the arc-induced disturbance leads to the dramatic changes in the flow structure. It was shown that the upstream movement of the arc channel (I = 40-700 A) leads to the local flow separation and simultaneously to the formation of a high pressure region above the model surface. Current paper presents investigation of previous work.