Control of laminar-to-turbulent transition on a swept-wing is achieved by base-flow modification in an experimental framework, up to a chord Reynolds number of 2.5 million. This technique is based on the control strategy used in the numerical simulation by Dörr & Kloker (2015b). A spanwise uniform body force is introduced using Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma actuators, to either force against or along the local cross-flow component of the boundary layer. The effect of forcing on the stability of the boundary layer is analysed using a simplified model proposed by Serpieri et al. (2017). A minimal thickness plasma actuator is fabricated using spray-on techniques and positioned near the leading edge of the swept-wing, while infrared thermography is used to detect and quantify transition location. Results from both the simplified model and experiment indicate that forcing along the local cross-flow component promotes transition while forcing against successfully delays transition. This is the first experimental demonstration of swept-wing transition delay via base-flow modification using plasma actuators.

A novel plasma actuator concept is proposed to mimic the effect of spanwise wall oscillations without mechanically moving parts, where four groups of electrodes and three independently operated high-voltage power supplies maintain a pulsatile dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) array. Time-resolved planar velocity fields are obtained with high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) in proximity of the discharge zones for quiescent ambient conditions. Resulting flow topologies and wall-normal velocity profiles indicate the Stokes-layer-like flow formation, which is elevated above the wall due to the no-slip condition. The underlying body forces are derived from the PIV data to provide further insight into cause-effect relations between pulsatile discharge and oscillatory flow. The momentum transfer domain is found to be only interrupted with the width of the exposed electrode, which is an important step toward homogeneous virtual wall oscillations. A comparison with earlier studies by Gatti et al. ["Experimental assessment of spanwise-oscillating dielectric electroactive surfaces for turbulent drag reduction in an air channel flow," Exp. Fluids 56, 110 (2015)] leads to the hypothesis that DBD-based turbulent drag reduction might be a competing alternative to conventional active and passive shear-layer formation strategies, where the adjustability of both oscillation frequency and velocity amplitude might cover a wide range of Reynolds numbers.

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The present work describes an experimental investigation that applies stereo particle image velocimetry in a cross-plane of a turbulent channel flow that is additionally perturbed by spanwise oscillatory body forces, induced by a plasma actuator and designed to mimic the effect of spanwise wall oscillations. The experiment is aimed at retrieving the forcing-correlated scales and the turbulent flow stochastic fluctuations for the measured cross-plane. The first are macroscopic scales and require a larger investigation domain while the latter benefit of a higher resolution. Furthermore, the extended flow-field dynamic range posed a challenge on the experiment design, finally leading to an optimal tradeoff. The results of the unactuated flow compare well to the direct numerical simulations of Hoyas and Jimenez ́ (2008), while the actuated case demonstrates strong near-wall momentum addition and spanwise modulation of the streamwise flow component.

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Virtual wall oscillations forced by a dbd plasma actuator operating under beat frequencya concept for turbulent drag reduction

Two different plasma actuation strategies for producing near-wall flow oscillations, namely the burst-modulation and beat-frequency mode, are characterized with planar particle image velocimetry in quiescent air. Both concepts are anticipated to work as non-mechanical surrogates of oscillating walls aimed at turbulent flow drag reduction, with the added benefit of no moving parts, as the fluid is purely manipulated by plasma-generated body forces. The current work builds upon established flow-control and proof-of-concept demonstrators, as such, delivering an in-depth characterization of cause and impact of the plasma-induced flow oscillations. Various operational parameter combinations (oscillation frequency, duty cycle and input body force) are investigated. A universal performance diagram that is valid for plasma-based oscillations, independent of the actuation concept is derived. Results show that selected combinations of body force application methods suffice to reproduce oscillating wall dynamics from experimental data. Accordingly, the outcomes of this work can be exploited to create enhanced actuation models for numerical simulations of plasma-induced flow oscillations, by considering the body force as a function of the oscillation phase. Furthermore, as an advantage over physically displaced walls, the exerted body force appears not to be hampered by resonances and therefore remains constant independent of the oscillation frequency. Hence, the effects of individual parameter changes on the plasma actuator performance and fluid response as well as strategies to avoid undesired effects can be determined.

In the present work, laminar flow control, following the discrete roughness elements (DRE) strategy, also called upstream flow deformation (UFD) was applied on a 45 • swept-wing at a chord Reynold's number of Re c = 2.1 • 10 6 undergoing cross-flow instability (CFI) induced transition. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuation was employed at a high frequency (f ac = 10kHz) for this purpose. Specialized, patterned actuators that generate spanwinse-modulated plasma jets were fabricated using spray-on techniques and positioned near the leading edge. An array of DREs was installed upstream of the plasma forcing to lock the origin and evolution of critical stationary CFI vortices in the boundary layer. Two forcing configurations were investigated-in the first configuration the plasma jets were directly aligned against the incoming CF vortices while in the second the CF vortices passed between adjacent plasma jets. Infrared thermography was used to inspect transition location, while quantitative measurements of the boundary layer were obtained using particle image velocimetry. The obtained results show that the plasma forcing reduces the amplitude of stationary CF modes, thus delaying laminar-to-turbulent transition. In contrast to previous efforts [1], the plasma forcing did not introduce unsteady fluctuations into the boundary layer. The mechanism responsible for the observed transition delay appears to leverage more on localised base-flow modification rather than the DRE/UFD control strategy. Nomenclature Symbols V pp Peak-to-peak voltage x Axis normal to the leading edge f ac Carrier frequency y Axis orthogonal to the chord plane T x Thrust generated along x z Axis parallel to the leading edge c µ Momentum coefficient c Airfoil chord α Angle of attack uvw Velocity component along the x yz axes Abbreviations U Velocity magnitude CF Cross-Flow U ∞ Freestream velocity CFI Cross-Flow Instability Re c Chord Reynold's number UFD Upstream Flow Deformation ...