Analytic Model and the Influence of Actuator Number on the Performance of Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator Array

Coupled with the multichannel discharge model and plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA) aerodynamic model, an analytical model to predict the performance of the PSJA array is put forward. The multichannel discharge model takes these factors into consideration, the delay time in the breakdown process, the electrical transformation of the discharge channel from a capacitor to a resistor induced by the air breakdown, and the varying plasma resistance in the discharge process. The PSJA aerodynamic model is developed based on the conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy, and the lumped capacitance method. The multichannel discharge model can simulate the multichannel discharge process and give the discharge energy in the plasma channel. With a constant heating efficiency, the time-independent heating energy deposition power in a discharge channel is obtained. Importing the heating energy, the PSJA aerodynamic model presents the evolution process of the jet. Simulation results show that the jet strength induced by a single actuator decreases with the number of actuators in the PSJA array. When the actuator number increases from 1 to 20, the weakening extent of mass ejected, peak jet velocity, and jet duration time is 62%, 54%, and 33%, respectively. The discharge efficiency increases with the actuator number, while the thermodynamic efficiency decreases with the actuator number. As a result, the total energy efficiency doesn’t always increase with an increase in the number of actuators. When the discharge efficiency of a conventional one channel discharge has been a relatively large value, the total energy efficiency actually decreases with the growth of actuator number.