The ability of plasma actuators to achieve pronounced advantages over traditional flow control approaches in real-world weapon system scenarios remains to be seen. However, in order for scientists to fully explore the potential of such devices, they must first understand the physical phenomena on which they are based. While a number of organizations conducting experimental research in this area have produced significant insight into plasma actuator behavior, they lack similar progress in successfully modeling and simulating these devices. To address this deficiency, AFRL’s Computational Mechanics Branch has initiated efforts to develop high-fidelity computer models reflecting relevant plasma actuator physics.

In particular, it is the physics of the momentum transfer that AFRL scientists are intent on harnessing to control the flow of neutral gases such as air. Calculating the momentum transferred to the neutral gas surrounding a plasma actuator requires an understanding of the associated chargedparticle density and velocity distribution. Accordingly, the AFRL team is developing a computer code for modeling the density and velocity of the charged particles surrounding the plasma actuator. The momentum transfer caused by the plasma actuator operates on a time scale much shorter than the duration of subsonic particle flow over an airfoil. This inherent time difference allows scientists to integrate the plasma-induced momentum change over time and apply it as an averaged quantity. They can then use this timeaveraged momentum transfer in creating high-fidelity aerodynamic analysis codes that model the plasma actuator’s effect on the flow of the surrounding gas.