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Projecte llegit

Títol: Improving DBD Plasma Actuator Performance through Serrated Electrodes and Multi-Stage Architectures

Estudiants que han llegit aquest projecte:

Director/a: ARIAS CALDERÓN, SANTIAGO

Departament: FIS

Títol: Improving DBD Plasma Actuator Performance through Serrated Electrodes and Multi-Stage Architectures

Data inici oferta: 03-02-2025     Data finalització oferta: 03-10-2025


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    GR ENG SIST AEROESP
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: Fora UPC    
 
        Supervisor/a extern: Miguel Ángel Cota
        Institució/Empresa: YPlasma
        Titulació del Director/a: Mechanical Engineer
 
Segon director/a (UPC): BERGADÀ GRANYÓ, JOSEP MARIA
 
Paraules clau:
DBD plasma actuator, Active flow control, Serrated electrode, Multi-stage actuator, Floating interelectrodes, Thrust, Electrical power, Thrust-to-power ratio
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
This Final Degree Project focuses on the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators.
Plasma actuators are electro-aerodynamic devices capable of inducing airflow along a surface without moving parts, making them a promising technology for aerodynamic control and electronic cooling systems. The objective of this project is to study how the geometry of the exposed electrode and the electrical excitation parameters influence the performance and efficiency of these actuators.
Three different actuator designs will be developed: a standard configuration with a straight exposed electrode, a serrated exposed-electrode design intended to modify the electric field distribution, and a sandwich-type actuator concept with a three-dimensional exposed electrode.
The experimental work will consist of an electrical and aerodynamic characterization of each actuator. For different voltage and frequency combinations, the induced airflow velocity and volumetric flow rate will be measured together with the applied voltage and current. This will allow the efficiency of each design to be evaluated and compared.
Finally, the actuator that shows the best performance at a lower voltage and frequency will be selected for an ozone-generation study in order to assess its environmental impact and suitability for practical applications.
This project will provide a complete experimental framework to evaluate DBD plasma actuators and will contribute to the understanding of how electrode geometry and operating conditions affect their performance.
 
Overview (resum en anglès):
Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators offer a solid-state approach to active flow control, but their practical implementation depends on increasing actuation without an excessive electrical-power penalty. This work experimentally investigates how exposed-electrode geometry and multi-stage architecture affect the mechanical and electrical performance of surface DBD plasma actuators.

Three configurations were designed and manufactured from a common actuator platform: a Conventional DBD, a Serrated DBD and a three-stage Multi-DBD incorporating floating interelectrodes. The actuators were characterized in quiescent air under sinusoidal excitation from 14 to 24 kVpp and at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz. Performance was evaluated through direct thrust measurements and capacitor-based electrical-power characterization, allowing both absolute force generation and thrust-to-power performance to be compared under equivalent operating conditions.

The Serrated DBD generated between 1.68 and 3.27 times the thrust of the Conventional DBD while requiring comparable electrical power, with a Serrated-to-Conventional power ratio of 0.92-1.11. It consequently achieved the highest thrust-to-power ratio throughout the complete experimental matrix, reaching 0.537 mN/W. The Multi-DBD generated the highest absolute thrust under every tested condition, producing 2.25-2.82 times the thrust of the Serrated DBD and reaching 4.006 mN at 24 kVpp and 2 kHz, although requiring 3.40-4.08 times its electrical power. Increasing voltage and frequency increased thrust, but electrical power generally grew more rapidly, so maximum electrical excitation did not correspond to the most favourable thrust-to-power condition.

The results demonstrate that electrode geometry and actuator architecture provide two complementary design strategies. Serrated electrodes improve the force obtained for a given electrical input, whereas multi-stage actuation substantially increases the maximum available thrust. The appropriate configuration therefore depends on whether the application prioritizes electrical economy or maximum actuation authority.

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