Three dimensional simulation of the effects of plasma actuator with radial arrangement of electrodes

Abstract

The purpose of this article is using plasma actuator with special arrangement of electrodes to control flow separation. For this reason, a computational study is carried out on an unsteady, turbulent, and developing flow within a circular duct. The three phenomena including the cross-sectional increase, the developing flow and both tangential and radial simultaneous flow movement determine the physics of the problem. Due to the geometry, the electrodes for the first time are radially arranged.

The results showed that presence of a plasma actuator transferred the separation point from r = 246.6 mm to r = 239.2 mm in radial direction. In addition, it was shown that the arrangement of electrodes in the flow direction does not play a role in separation point in radial direction.