Aerodynamic Control of High Performance Aircraft Using Pulsed Plasma Actuators

Abstract

The active flow control technology to manipulate forebody vortices on a slender tangent ogive nose body is being developed. The plasma actuators are being used to exploit the bistable nature of the asymmetric forebody vortex wake for lateral/directional control in lowspeed and high-angle-of attack regimes. The experiments have confirmed that the plasma actuator can be used to displace the vortex on the forebody model by the Coanda effect. The results of the force and moment measurement indicate that this displacement could successfully generate significant change in their side force, which could be utilized to extend maneuvering flight envelop for future fighter designs. High speed visualization data show that there is strong time lag in the response of the vortex motion, and multi-parameter coupling to determine the effect of the actuation is suggested.