A Circulatory Ionic Wind for Inertial Sensing Application

Abstract

A novel gyroscope using circulatory electrohydrodynamics flow in a confined space is presented for the first time. The configuration of the new gyroscope includes three pointring corona discharge actuators which generate ion flows in three separated sub-channels. The three ion flows then merge together when going through a nozzle of the main chamber entrance and create a jet flow. In the new configuration, the residual charge of ion wind flow is removed by a master-ring electrode located at one end of the main chamber. Under the effect of the angular speed of gyroscope, the jet flow is deflected and this deflection is sensed using hotwires. Results, which are consistently acquired by both numerical simulation and experiment on our prototypes, demonstrate the repeatability and stability of the new approach. Since the ion wind can be generated by a minimum power, the present configuration-based device does not require any vibrating component. Thus, the device is robust, cost and energy-effective.

Simultaneous Generation and Delivery of Neutral Polymeric Aerosol by Electro-Hydrodynamic Nebulizer

“…3a). While the droplets are highly charged, the sharp tip of the pin generates oppositely charged ionic wind from corona discharge [12].…”

Numerical Study and Experimental Investigation of an Electrohydrodynamic Device for Inertial Sensing

“…The system presented in this paper is based on corona discharge ion wind but using multiple pairs of point-ring electrodes and is developed for inertial sensing applications [11]- [13]. The key of this enhancement is how to arrange ring electrodes in the new configuration to neutralize the residual charge, thus capable of circulating a stable ion flow inside the system.…”

An electrohydrodynamic gyroscope

“…However, the circulartory ionic wind is transiently unstable due to the accumulation of the residual electric charge in closed systems, which damages the corona discharge process. In order to overcome these barriers, the ion wind based closed system using a new configuration of multiple pin-ring electrodes was introduced [20], and is further developed in this work. For the present approach, a master ring is introduced into the system at the working channel to neutralize the residual charge.…”