Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 22802 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2009081

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas for aeronautic applications

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
² Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Palmdale, CA 93599, USA

Corresponding author: miles@Princeton.EDU

Received: 27 November 2008
Accepted: 12 February 2009
Published online: 14 May 2009

Abstract

Dielectric barrier surface discharges (DBD) have the potential to act as flush mounted flow control devices for separation control and other aeronautic applications. A pulse-sustained plasma with the ions driven by a DC bias voltage is proposed for optimum performance. While characterizing these devices, it was found that their performance is severely limited by surface charge build-up. That charge builds up rapidly and remains for as long as hours. Work in this paper shows that the surface charge can be mitigated by using a reversing DC bias potential or by using a constant DC bias potential with a partially covered electrode.