Experimental investigation on flying wing lift enhancement and drag reduction by plasma

Under the condition of wind speed of 30m/s or 40m/s, the effect of the parameter of the voltage and the number of actuated electrode couples as well as the position of the plasma aerodynamic actuation on the lift enhancement and drag reduction of a flying wing are investigated by means of force-balance tests in the wind tunnel after the nanosecond pulse die-lectric barrier discharge plasma actuator was installed. The force test results show that, compared with the voltage and the number of actuated electrode couples, the position of the plasma aerodynamic actuation determines flow control effect mainly. Compared with other control position, plasma inhibites model's leading edge vortices seperation obvious. Plasma actuator injectes energy to the boundary layer of fluid so the surface flow separation is delayed to larger angle of attack for the flying wing, the maximum lift coefficient and stall angle are also efficiently increased, and drag coefficient is reduced at the same time. Under certain test conditions, the maximum lift coefficient increases 13.2% from 0.97 to 1.1, stall angle increases 4° from 17.4° to 21.4° and drag coefficient reduces 24.6%, and the more energy the plasma actuator is increased, the more obvious effect the plasma actuator will generate.