Design and Application of Multichannel Peristaltic Acceleration Pulsed Plasma Power Supply

Based on the continuous and microsecond pulsed plasma power supply, a multichannel peristaltic acceleration pulsed plasma power supply is developed. The overall design ideas and system block diagram are proposed. Additional modulation functions of pulsed phase angle, duty cycle ratio, and pulsed frequency are implemented to improve the control capability of the plasma actuation for flow control. Long time running results show that this power supply can generate good waveform and smooth plasma discharge. It meets the requirements of plasma discharge for various means of flow control, such as continuous, pulsed, duty cycle, and peristaltic acceleration plasma actuation. Finally, successful wind-tunnel experiments for plasma flow control over a slender body at high angle of attack by using this power supply is conducted. It shows that the plasma actuation excited by the power supply provides the highly needed lateral force and moment control on slender body at high angles of attack, without the unpredictable onset of asymmetric aerodynamic loads.