Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Corona Discharge Induced Flow on a Flat Plate

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow induced by planar corona discharge in the wall boundary layer region is investigated experimentally and via a multiphysics computational model. The EHD phenomena has many potential engineering applications, its optimization requires a mechanistic understanding of the ion and flow transport. The corona EHD actuator consisting of two electrodes located in the wall boundary layer creates an EHD driven wall jet. The applied voltage between the electrodes is varied and the resulting effects in the charge density and flow field are measured. Constant current hotwire anemometry is used to measure velocity profile. The airflow near the wall acts a jet and it reaches a maximum of 1.7 m/s with an energy conversion efficiency of ~2%. The velocity decreases sharply in the normal direction. Multiphysics numerical model couples ion transport equation and the Navier Stokes equations to solve for the spatiotemporal distribution of electric field, charge density and flow field. The numerical results match experimental data shedding new insights into mass, charge and momentum transport phenomena. The EHD driven flow can be applied to flow control strategies and design of novel particle collectors.