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Recently, it has been demonstrated that dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators, which can be capable of generating a quasi-steady wall jet under the effect of a sinusoidal power supply, are well suitable for controlling the flow around the airfoil at a low Reynolds number. To uncover the controlling mechanism of plasma actuators, flow separation control over an SC (2)-0714 supercritical airfoil using an asymmetrical plasma actuator arranged at the leading edge of the airfoil, is studied at Reynolds number of 7.8 × 104. The stall angle of attack is delayed from 9° to 13°, and the maximum lift coefficient is increased by about 27%. In addition to the momentum injection to the boundary layer, which is one of the control mechanisms and can be achieved by the induced spanwise vortex of the plasma actuator, the closed recirculation region, which is similar to superimposing a hump on the leading edge of the airfoil, is another control mechanism, leading to an increase in the effective camber of the airfoil. The localized recirculation zone, which is created by the plasma actuator and modifies the leading-edge aero-shaping and results in the enhancement of the lift coefficient, is first observed, and this effect of the plasma actuator is called the virtual leading-edge aero-shaping.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.