Design of Variable Power Supply and Experimental Setup for Analyzing Flow Characteristics of SD (Sliding Discharge) Plasma Actuator

As the method of flow control has changed from passive control by shape design to active control by plasma actuators, it has become possible to apply it to various fields and to control flow more efficiently. Plasma actuators are categorized into Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) and Sliding Discharge (SD) depending on their configuration, with SD plasma actuators having the advantage of higher induced flow velocities and the ability to create a wide range of induced flows. However, SD plasma has a larger number of electrodes and types of input power than DBD plasma actuators, so optimization requires analysis under various conditions of power and actuator. In this paper, we designed AC power and DC power with variable voltage and frequency for optimization analysis of SD plasma actuator under various conditions, and conducted experiments for analysis. Additionally, the operating characteristics of the SD plasma actuator were confirmed through a smoke experiment. The variable AC power supply for various experiments was designed to vary the voltage up to 10kV and frequency from 4kHz to 40kHz, and the DC power supply was designed to vary the voltage up to 6kV.