Localized arc filament plasma actuators are used to control an axisymmetric Mach 1.3 ideally expanded jet of 2.54 cm exit diameter and a Reynolds number based on the nozzle exit diameter of about 1.1×106. Measurements of growth and decay of perturbations seeded in the flow by the actuators, laser-based planar flow visualizations, and particle imaging velocimetry measurements are used to evaluate the effects of control. Eight actuators distributed azimuthally inside the nozzle, approximately 1 mm upstream of the nozzle exit, are used to force various azimuthal modes over a large frequency range (StDF of 0.13 to 1.3). The jet responded to the forcing over the entire range of frequencies, but the response was optimum (in terms of the development of large coherent structures and mixing enhancement) around the jet preferred Strouhal number of 0.33 (f = 5 kHz), in good agreement with the results in the literature for low-speed and low-Reynolds-number jets. The jet (with a thin boundary layer, D/θ ∼ 250) also responded to forcing with various azimuthal modes (m = 0 to 3 and m = ±1, ±2, ±4), again in agreement with instability analysis and experimental results in the literature for low-speed and low-Reynolds-number jets. Forcing the jet with the azimuthal mode m = ±1 at the jet preferred-mode frequency provided the maximum mixing enhancement, with a significant reduction in the jet potential core length and a significant increase in the jet centreline velocity decay rate beyond the end of the potential core.

The results of an experimental investigation on the effect of vortex generators, in the form of small tabs at the nozzle exit on the evolution of a jet, are reported in this paper. Primarily tabs of triangular shape are considered, and the effect is studied up to a jet Mach number of 1.8. Each tab is found to produce a dominant pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices having a sense of rotation opposite to that expected from the wrapping of the boundary layer. This results in an inward indentation of the mixing layer into the core of the jet. A triangular-shaped tab with its apex leaning downstream, referred to as a delta tab, is found to be the most effective in producing such vortices, with a consequential large influence on the overall jet evolution. Two delta tabs, spaced 180° apart, completely bifurcate the jet. Four delta tabs stretch the mixing layer into four ‘‘fingers,’’ resulting in a significant increase in the jet mixing downstream. For six delta tabs the mixing layer distortion settles back to a three finger configuration through an interaction of the streamwise vortices. The tabs are found to be equally effective in jets with turbulent or laminar initial boundary layers. Two sources of streamwise vorticity are postulated for the flow under consideration. One is the upstream ‘‘pressure hill,’’ generated by the tab, which constitutes the main contributor of vorticity to the dominant pair. Another is due to vortex filaments shed from the sides of the tab and reoriented downstream by the mean shear of the mixing layer. Depending on the orientation of the tab, the latter source can produce a vortex pair having a sense of rotation opposite to that of the dominant pair. In the case of the delta tab, vorticity from the two sources add, explaining the strong effect in that configuration.

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The paper reviews recent progress in two rapidly developing engineering applications of plasmas, plasma assisted combustion and plasma assisted high-speed flow control. Experimental and kinetic modeling results demonstrate the key role of non-thermal plasma chemistry in hydrocarbon ignition by uniform, repetitively pulsed, nanosecond pulse duration, low-temperature plasmas. Ignition delay time in premixed ethylene-air flows excited by the plasma has been measured in a wide range of pulse repetition rates and equivalence ratios and compared with kinetic modeling calculations, showing good agreement. Comparing ignition delay time predicted by the model for plasma assisted ignition and for ignition by equilibrium heating demonstrated that chain reactions of radicals generated by the plasma reduce ignition time by up to two orders of magnitude and ignition temperature by up to 300 K. These results provide additional evidence of the non-thermal nature of low-temperature plasma assisted ignition. Experiments and flow modeling show that the dominant mechanism of high-speed plasma flow control is thermal, due to heating of the flow by the plasma. Development and characterization of pulsed dc and pulsed RF localized arc filament plasma actuator arrays for control of high-speed atmospheric pressure jet flows are discussed. Actuator power is quite low, ∼10 W at 10% duty cycle. Plasma emission spectra show that a greater fraction of the pulsed RF discharge power goes to heat the flow (up to 2500 • C), while a significant fraction of the pulsed dc discharge power is spent on electrode and wall heating, resulting in their erosion. Rapid localized heating of the flow by the pulsed arc filaments, at a rate of ∼1000 K/10 µs, results in the formation of strong compression/shock waves, detected by schlieren imaging. Effect of flow forcing by repetitively pulsed RF actuators is demonstrated in a M = 1.3 axisymmetric jet. These two case studies provide illustrative examples of isolating non-thermal (non-equilibrium plasma chemistry) and thermal (Joule heating) effects in plasmas and adapting them to develop efficient large-volume plasma igniters and high-speed flow actuators.

The effect of vortex generators, in the form of small tabs projecting normally into the flow at the nozzle exit, on the characteristics of an axisymmetric jet is investigated experimentally over the jet Mach number range of 0.3-1.81. The tabs eliminate screech noise from supersonic jets and alter the shock structure drastically. They distort the jet cross section and increase the jet spread rate significantly. The distortion produced is essentially the same at subsonic and underexpanded supersonic conditions. Thus, the underlying mechanism must be independent of compressibility effects. A tab with a height as small as 2% of the jet diameter, but larger than the efflux boundary-layer thickness, is found to produce a significant effect. Flow visualization reveals that each tab introduces an "indentation" into the high speed side of the shear layer via the action of streamwise vortices. These vortices are inferred to be of the "trailing vortex" type rather than of the "necklace vortex" type. It is apparent that a substantial pressure differential must exist between the upstream and the downstream sides of the tab to effectively produce these trailing vortices. This explains why the tabs are ineffective in the overexpanded flow, as in that case an adverse pressure gradient exists near the nozzle exit which reduces the pressure differential produced by the tab.