On-set of EHD turbulence for cylinder in cross flow under corona discharges

Experimental and theoretical investigations have been conducted for the on-set of electrohydrodynamically (EHD) induced turbulence for cylinder in cross flow. The experiments were conducted for Reynolds numbers from 0.2 to 80 based on cylinder diameters, and Reynolds numbers from 103 to 4×103 based on the flow channel width. This flow conditions represent laminar to transitional-flow before the on-set of the EHD-turbulent flow. Theoretical analysis was based on the mass, momentum, and charged particle conservation equations coupled with the Poisson's equation for electric field evaluation. The results showed that: (1) on-set of EHD turbulence is initiated near the real-stagnation point; (2) EHD turbulence can be generated even for Reynolds numbers (Re) less than 0.2, if the EHD number (Ehd) is larger than the critical Reynolds number square (Ehd>Re2); and (3) the electrical origin of instability, which is leading into the on-set of turbulence can be estimated from Ehd/Db2>Re2 relation, where Db is the Debye number.