Active plasma grid for on-demand airflow mixing increase

The present paper concerns the electromechanical characterization of an actuator composed of a ceramic plate perforated by 121 holes housing embedded and printed electrodes between which a high voltage is applied. The electrode arrangement is such that the holes where the gas flows are surrounded by surface discharges. Electrical measurements and iCCD images show that the discharge behaves as a typical surface dielectric barrier discharge with streamer and glow regimes during one period of the AC sine voltage. Particle image velocimetry has been used to measure the jet flow produced by the discharge. The plasma discharge is at the origin of a wall jet with mean velocity of about 2.2 m/s, oriented from the active electrode to the grounded one. The capability of this discharge for promoting mixing by reducing the length of the jet core is demonstrated for flow velocities from 20 up to 60 m/s. In all the tested cases, the actuator can improve the mixing downstream of the perforated plate, when periodic perturbations are imposed at the jet column mode (StD = 0.3).