Effect of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma in Supersonic Flow

In the recent past, there is a growing interest in using the Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) based plasma actuators for active control of the boundary layer in different speed regimes. The plasma actuators are attractive flow control devices because of their simplicity of construction and their very short response time. The plasma actuation relies on one or more of the three basic mechanisms viz., volumetric joule heating, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) forcing and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) forcing. DBD actuation has been widely accepted as due to EHD force it generates. Beouf et.al[1] have discussed the basic mechanisms responsible for EHD force exerted by DBD. The EHD forces on the fluid generates a flow in the vicinity of the DBD. A planar configuration of DBD in flush with surface generates a wall jet as reported by Moreau[2]. The planar configuration has been extensively explored for aerodynamic flow control at subsonic speed.