Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience

Investigation of the performance characteristics of a plasma synthetic jet actuator based on a

quantitative Schlieren method

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text.

2016 Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 055301

(http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-0233/27/5/055301)

View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more

Download details:

IP Address: 141.117.125.76
This content was downloaded on 02/07/2016 at 15:43

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

 Measurement Science and Technology

Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301 (11pp) doi:10.1088/0957-0233/27/5/055301

Investigation of the performance

characteristics of a plasma synthetic
jet actuator based on a quantitative
Schlieren method
Hao-hua Zong1,2, Yun Wu2, Hui-min Song1, Min Jia1, Hua Liang1,
Ying-hong Li1 and Zhi-bo Zhang1
1
  Air Force Engineering University, 710038 Xi’an, People’s Republic of China
2
  School of Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710049 Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

E-mail: wuyun1223@126.com (Y Wu)

Received 17 December 2015, revised 25 February 2016

Accepted for publication 11 March 2016
Published 6 April 2016

Abstract
A quantitative Schlieren method is developed to calculate the density field of axisymmetric
flows. With this method, the flow field structures of plasma synthetic jets are analysed in
detail. Major performance parameters, including the maximum density increase behind
the shock wave, the expelled mass per pulse and the impulse, are obtained to evaluate the
intensity of the shock wave and the jet. A high-density but low-velocity jet issues out of the
cavity after the precursor shock wave, with a vortex ring at the wave front. The vortex ring
gradually lags behind the center jet during the propagation, and its profile resembles a pair of
kidneys in shape. After the jet terminates, the vortex ring breaks down and the whole density
field is separated into two regions. In one period, the jet front velocity first increases and then
decreases, with a maximum value of 270 m s−1. The precursor shock wave velocity decays
quickly from 370 m s−1 to 340 m s−1 in the first 50 μs. The variation in the maximum density
rise behind the precursor shock wave is similar to that of the jet front velocity. The averaged
exit density drops sharply at around 50 μs and then gradually rises. The maximum mass flow
rate is about 0.35 g s−1, and the total expelled mass in one period occupies 26% of the initial
cavity gas mass. The impulse produced in the jet stage is estimated to be 5 μN s–1.
The quantitative Schlieren method developed can also be used in the research of other
compressible axisymmetric flows.

Keywords: flow control, plasma, synthetic jet, characteristics, quantitative Schlieren method

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction
Plasma flow control is a common concern in active flow con-
trol research due to its rapid response, simple structure and zero
net mass flow. So far this technology has shown broad appli-
cability in flow separation control, boundary layer transition
control, shock wave manipulation, airfoil drag reduction and
so on [1–5]. The actuator is the core of this technology. The
plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA), a newly proposed plasma
actuator, combines the merits of high speed (~400 m s−1) and
high frequency (>5 kHz) and is thus more suitable for high-
speed flow control [6–12]. However, the small action zone
and the low energy efficiency limit the practical application
[13–16]. Investigation of the characteristics is very important for
optimal design of the actuator and the power supply. At present,
the achievements in characteristics research can be divided into
three categories—experimental, theoretical and simulation—of
which the experimental achievements occupy the majority.

0957-0233/16/055301+11$33.00 1 © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd  Printed in the UK

Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
In theories and simulations many models have been
established, including the 0D analytical model, the 2D sim-
ulation model, the transient ejection phase model and the
multiphysical field-coupling model [17–21]. The expelled
mass per pulse and the mechanical energy incorporated in
a single pulsed jet drops in a stepwise fashion as the actua-
tion frequency increases. This stepped decrease is believed
to be caused by the intermittent decrease of the refresh time
[18, 19]. Comparative study of the different energy source
terms shows that the unsteady source term produces a more
accurate jet front position than the steady source term.
Furthermore, with the unsteady energy source term the max-
imum cavity pressure is much more elevated and the increase
in the cavity temperature is much faster than that with the con-
stant energy source term [20]. The multiphysical field-cou-
pling model reveals that with the voltage rise time decreasing
on the time scale of 20–50 ns, the heating energy increases
rapidly leading to a higher exit pressure and velocity [21].
In experiments, the main diagnostic tools used to asses the
aerodynamic performance of PSJA include dynamic pressure
transducers, the pendulum apparatus, miniature thrust stands,
particle image velocimetry (PIV) and the Schlieren system.
Owing to the strong electromagnetic interference (EMI), the
fast changing flow field (~μs) and the small actuator dimen-
sions (~mm), the hot wire anemometer and the pitot tube
(which are commonly used in characterizing the perfor-
mance of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuators) cannot
be applied to PSJA [2, 22]. The rapid expansion jet and the
intense front vortex ring can result in a rather low seeding den-
sity of the jet region in PIV measurements and a low resolu-
tion [23, 24]. In addition, the low impulse level (<10 μN s–1)
of PSJAs compared with that of a DBD actuator requires that
the thrust measurement system has a high sensitivity and high
signal-to-noise ratio [15, 16, 25–27].
With a transformed Kulite pressure transducer, the total
pressure of the jet is obtained, from which the jet velocity
and the jet duration can be deduced. The results show that
the jet induced by capacitive discharge has a larger velocity
but shorter duration compared with that triggered by inductive
discharge [9, 10, 28]. Through comparing the cavity dynamic
pressure measured from the transducer with that obtained from
the analytical model and the simulation, the heating efficiency
of arc discharge is estimated to be 35% [14]. For a PSJA with
a three-electrode configuration, an even lower heating effi-
ciency (no more than 10%) is demonstrated by comparing the
impulse measured from the pendulum apparatus and that cal-
culated from the theoretical model. A larger energy deposition
results in a lower heating efficiency [15, 16]. PIV is used to
observe the influence of the capacitor energy on the evolution
of the flow field. With low capacitor energies, the jet velocity is
small and several vortex pairs are formed. However, with large
capacitor energies, the jet velocity is very high (~500 m s−1),
and only one vortex pair can be observed [23, 24, 29]. The
Schlieren system has been widely adopted in determining
the jet front velocity and observing the jet evolution. As the
capacitor energy increases the jet body enlarges, and both the
jet front velocity and the jet duration time increase [30–34].
When the PSJA array is used to control the supersonic flow,
2
H-h Zong et al
Figure 1.  PSJA structure. Reproduced with permission from [18].
Copyright 2015, AIP Publishing LLC.
the jet can penetrate 1.5 times the thickness of the boundary
layer and a maximum shock wave turning angle of 5° is
observed [11, 12, 35].
However, the Schlieren method is not a quantitative
method. With this technique detailed flow structures cannot
be obtained, thus it is very urgent to develop a quantitative
density measurement method that can be used to investigate
the detailed flow field structure. The background oriented
Schlieren (BOS) method was proposed to measure the density
field. However, due to the reduced resolution of the displace-
ment analysis, the number of obtained displacement vectors
can be much lower than that of the image pixels [36, 37]. There
are also some other quantitative Schlieren methods, such as
the phase-shifting Schlieren, ‘rainbow’ Schlieren, Schardin’s
‘calibrated’ Schlieren and so on [38–40]. For axisymmetric
flow, two key steps of such quantitative Schlieren methods are
the determination of the light deflection angle and the solution
of the Abel inversion problem.
Inspired by the methods used in [41, 42], a quantitative
Schlieren method is developed to calculate the density field
of axisymmetric flows from the traditional Schlieren system.
With this method, the density fields of the plasma synthetic
jet are obtained at the same spatial resolution as that of the
Schlieren images, which is much higher than that of the BOS
method. The detailed flow structures are analysed and major
performance parameters—including the maximum density
rise behind the shock wave, the expelled mass per pulse and
the impulse—are extracted to evaluate the intensity of the
shock wave and the jet.
2.  Experimental set-up and Schlieren method
2.1.  Actuator and power supply
Figure 1 shows the two-electrode PSJA adopted in our research,
which consisted of two components—a ceramic shell and a
steel nut. The orifice created in the center of the steel nut is
1.5 mm in diameter. The height and diameter of the cavity are
7 mm and 4 mm, respectively. Other geometrical parameters
have already been described in [18], and will not be stated here.
The PSJA is fed by a sequence discharge (nanosecond
discharge–capacitive discharge) power supply, as shown in
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
Figure 2.  Power supply system.
Figure 3.  Schlieren system. (a) Components. (b) Light spot displacement.
figure 2. The basic working principle of this power supply is
similar to that in [30].
There are two advantages to this system. The first is the
simple structure, with only two electrodes, and the second
is the easy adjustment of the discharge energy over a large
range by changing the capacitance and the initial voltage.
This power supply is composed of three electrical circuits— a
charge circuit, a trigger circuit and a discharge circuit. In the
charge circuit, the energy storage capacitor C1 (2 μF, with-
stand voltage  >  3 kV) is charged by the DC power supply
(0–3 kV, 4 kVA) with a resistor R1 (1 kΩ, 100 W) limiting the
charge current. A high-voltage, low-energy pulse is produced
by a nanosecond-pulsed power supply (FID, FPG 20-20NK)
to trigger the discharge.
As only two electrodes are adopted, both the trigger func-
tion and the discharge function are realized by the anode.
Hence, some other elements (a magnetic switch and a capac-
itor C2) must be added to isolate the trigger circuit and the
charge circuit from each other. During the trigger stage, the
magnetic switch works in the magnetization stage and can
be regarded as an open switch that protects the charge circuit
from damage due to the high-voltage trigger pulse. While in
the capacitive discharge stage, the magnetic switch is satur­
ated and should be treated as a closed switch. This allows
the energy in C1 to be deposited in the cavity. The function
3
H-h Zong et al
of the small capacitor C2 (capacitance: 260 pF, withstand
voltage  >  35 kV) is to make the high-voltage nanosecond
pulse pass in the trigger stage, and to protect the high-voltage
pulsed power supply from the DC power supply in the capac-
itive discharge stage.
2.2.  Schlieren system
The Schlieren method has been widely exploited to charac-
terize the performance of PSJAs. A typical Schlieren system
with a z-type light path is shown in figure 3.
The main elements of a Schlieren system include a light
source, two concave mirrors, a knife and a high-speed charge-
coupled device (CCD) camera. The light source adopted is a con-
tinuous bi-Xenon head lamp. The light is emitted from the lamp,
then reflected by two concave mirrors (20 cm in diameter with a
1.5 m focal length) and finally received by the camera (Phantom,
V2511). The high-speed camera records the 8-bit depth Schlieren
images (resolution: 384  ×  512 pixels) with a frame rate of 70 043
Hz and an exposure time of 1 μs. The actuator lies in the parallel
light path between the two concave mirrors. The knife is placed
vertically (in the oz direction) and can move horizontally (in the
oy direction) perpendicular to the incident light.
Based on the Gladstone–Dale formula, the refractive index
and density of a gas satisfy the following relationship
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301 H-h Zong et al

Figure 4.  Variation of the averaged background grayscale with the

knife-edge displacement.
Figure 5.  Schematic of the Abel inversion problem.
n − 1 = C0ρ
(1)
Combining equation  (3) and the relationship shown in
where n and ρ represent the refractive index and density,
figure 4 together, the light deflection angle matrix ∆α can be
respectively, and C0 is the Gladstone–Dale coefficient (about
deduced with the given grayscale variation matrix ∆I based
0.23 cm3 g−1 for air at standard conditions).
on a quadratic interpolation method.
Owing to the gas refraction, light will change direction
during propagation. The horizontal deflection angle of the
light (denoted ∆α) results in the displacement of the light spot 2.3.  Calculation method for the density field
in the oy direction (denoted ∆y). As the knife is placed verti-
cally, the light intensity received by the camera will change, For axisymmetric flows, such as the plasma synthetic jet
which is identified by the variation in the grayscale image. ejected from a cylindrical orifice, a relationship between ∆α
Note that the light deflection angle is considered as the hori- and the radial distribution of the gas refractive index n(r ) is
zontal deflection angle hereafter. shown [42]
According to the Schlieren theories, the grayscale intensity R0 1 dn dr
of the ith pixel (denoted Ii) in the Schlieren image should be a ∆α( y ) = 2y
(4) y n(r ) dr r − y 2
2 ∫
function of the horizontal position of the corresponding light
spot (denoted yi), as shown in equation (2) where R0 is the flow field boundary. The reconstruction of n(r )
Ii = ψi( yi )
(2) using equation (4) is a problem of the inverse Abel transform.
Many techniques have been put forward to handle the singu-
with a relative uniform illumination, the function ψi is same larity and the derivative term in the inverse Abel transform
for each pixel of the image, and can be obtained by recording [43, 44]. In this paper, a simple numerical method is proposed
the averaged grayscale value of the Schlieren image with dif- to solve equation (4).
ferent light spot positions. In fact, moving the knife edge and As shown in figure  5, the actual length represented by a
moving the light spot are equivalent. Variation of the aver- single pixel is ∆r (0.1575 mm per pixel), and the total number
aged background grayscale value with the knife-edge position of pixels in the horizontal direction is 2N. The following two
is shown in figure  4. Note that the jet Schlieren images are relationships can then be obtained, R0 = N ⋅ ∆r, y = i ⋅ ∆r,
recorded at y  =  0 mm. (i = 1, 2,  N ). By discretizing equation (4), the light deflec-
As the knife edge moves in the positive direction, the tion angle corresponding to the i th pixel (denoted ∆αi) can be
Schlieren image brightens and the grayscale saturates at deduced as follows
1.0 mm. The gradient of the curve for positive displacement
N +1−i
is obviously larger than that for negative displacement. The 1 n(i + j + 1) − n(i + j )
larger the gradient is, the higher the contrast will be. The high ∆αi = 2i∆r ⋅ ∑
j=1 n(i + j ) ∆r
contrast in the bright part of the Schlieren images shown in
figures 6 and 7 is a direct result of the above variation. ∆r
×
On the basis of equation (2), the grayscale variation of the (i∆r + j∆r )2 − (i∆r )2
ith pixel can be expressed as follows  N + 1 − i⎛ ⎞
n (i + j + 1) 1
= 2i ⋅ ∑ ⎜ − 1⎟
∆Ii = ψ( yi ) − ψ(0) = ψ(∆αi ⋅ f ) − ψ(0)
(3) j=1 ⎝ n(i + j ) ⎠ j 2 + 2ij
where f is the focal length of the second convex mirror; ∆αi N +1−i
is the light deflection angle corresponding to the ith pixel and = ∑ ai, jki + j − bi (5)
ψ(0) is the averaged grayscale value for zero knife displacement. j=1

4
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301 H-h Zong et al

Figure 6.  Image processing methods.

where ai, j = 2i ⋅ 1
, bi = ∑ Nj =+11 − i ai, j, ki = n(i + 1)/n(i ). electrode configuration, the energy deposition in the cavity
j 2 + 2ij is also nonaxisymmetrical, resulting in a nonaxisymmetrical
Note that the refractive index at the N  +  1 pixel, n(N + 1), is
flow field. However, this effect can be neglected considering
1.00027. If i ranges from 1 to N, the following set of equa-
the small orifice used in this research [24]. Second, the deriva-
tions is obtained
tive term in equation  (4), dn /dr, is replaced by the forward
⎧ a1,1 k1 + a1,2 k2 +  + a1, N kN = ∆α1 + b1 difference. The discretization error is proportional to the spa-
⎪
⎪ 0+ tial step ∆r, and also the second derivative of the gas density
⎨
a2,1 k2 +  + a2, N − 1 kN = ∆α2 + b 2
(6) d2ρ /d2r. The integral term in equation (4) is replaced with the
⎪     
⎪ 0+
⎩
rectangular integration. This discretization error depends on
0+  + aN ,1 kN = ∆αN + bN .
In order to simplify the above equation, a new coefficient
the first derivative of the integral part, d ( 1
n (r )
⋅
dn
dr )/dr, and
matrix C = {ci, j} is defined as follows also ∆r. Finally, the quantization error in calculating the light
deflection angle should also be considered. This quantization
⎧ 0 j<i
ci, j = ⎨
error is related to the image bit depth and the sensitivity of the
⎩ a i, j − i + 1 i ⩽ j ⩽ N .
(7)
Schlieren system. Increasing the camera bit depth or Schlieren
system sensitivity can provide a large dynamic range of the
Then equation  (6) can be reshaped into the following image intensity, and finally a more accurate light deflection
matrix form angle.
(8) CΚ = ∆α+ Β⇒ Κ= C−1(∆α+Β) In this paper, these errors are only analysed qualitatively. The
detailed quantitative analysis of these errors needs to rely on the
where B= [b1, b 2, , bN ]T , K= [k1, k2, , kN ]T , ∆α  =   numerical simulation and will be conducted in further research.
[∆α1, ∆α2, , ∆αN ]T . As B and C are constants, the refractive Overall, the errors are closely related to the image resolution
index vector K can be calculated by the light defection angle and the density gradient. Increasing the image resolution with
matrix, ∆α. In order to obtain the grayscale variation matrix the 2D interpolation method may improve the accuracy.
∆I the Schlieren images need to be processed, as shown in
figure 6.
3.  Results and analysis
First the background image G 0 is subtracted from the jet
evolution image G1 to obtain the grayscale difference image 3.1.  Flow field evolution process
G 2. Then 20 grayscale difference images obtained under the
same conditions are averaged to acquire the averaged gray- The capacitance, the initial voltage and the working frequency
scale difference image G 3 as well as the grayscale difference are fixed at 2 μF, 1000 V and 1 Hz, respectively. This results in
matrix ∆I. The refractive index matrix can be calculated a capacitor energy of 1 J, much larger than that used in [18],
with equations  (8) and (3). Then by applying equation  (1), to obtain an obvious density variation. As an energy transfor-
the whole density field is obtained. Under the axisymmetric mation efficiency exists, part of the energy heats the actuator
assumption, only half of the grayscale difference matrix is wall. In flow control applications, the actuator usually works
sufficient to calculate the density field. Owing to the large at several kHz, and the discharge energy should be decreased
contrast in the bright part, the right half of the grayscale dif- to avoid excessive energy accumulation in the cavity [11].
ference matrix is chosen to reduce the calculation error. The evolution of the density field, the averaged grayscale
The above numerical method is an one-order discretization difference images and the instantaneous Schlieren image are
of the Abel inversion and equation  (6) is the linear approx­ shown in figure 7. In order to better show the flow field struc-
imation form of equation (4). The main errors of the proposed ture, the legend labels and the vertical scales in density con-
quantitative Schlieren method originate from three factors: tours are adjusted in some cases.
the nonaxisymmetrical geometry, the discretization error and At 28.55 μs, both the jet and the precursor shock wave can
the quantization error. First, due to the nonaxisymmetrical be observed. Behind the precursor shock wave, a high-density

5
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301 H-h Zong et al

Figure 7.  Evolution process of the flow field. (a) Density contour at 28.55 μs. (b) Averaged grayscale difference image at 28.55 μs.
(c) Schlieren image at 28.55 μs. (d) Density contour at 42.83 μs. (e) Averaged grayscale difference image at 42.83 μs. (f) Schlieren image at
42.83 μs. (g) Density contour at 57.11 μs. (h) Averaged grayscale difference image at 57.11 μs. (i) Schlieren image at 57.11 μs. ( j) Density
contour at 71.38 μs. (k) Averaged grayscale difference image at 71.38 μs. (l) Schlieren image at 71.38 μs. (m) Density contour at 171.32 μs.
(n) Averaged grayscale difference image at 171.32 μs. (o) Schlieren image at 171.32 μs. (p) Density contour at 314.09 μs. (q) Averaged
grayscale difference image at 314.09 μs. (r) Schlieren image at 314.09 μs. (s) Density contour at 456.86 μs. (t) Averaged grayscale
difference image at 456.86 μs. (u) Schlieren image at 456.86 μs.

6
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
Figure 7. (Continued )
(>1.2 kg m−3) high-pressure region forms. The jet is expelled
with a relatively high initial density (0.9 kg m−3), very close to
the ambient density. Thus, the jet front is hard to detect in the
Schlieren images. In the averaged grayscale difference image,
an obvious vortex pair can be observed. This vortex actually
corresponds to a vortex ring and is formed by the strong shear
between the high speed jet and the quiescent air. Afterwards,
both the shock wave and the jet propagate along the axis. At
42.83 μs, the second shock wave issues from the orifice, and
its formation is thought to be caused by the reflection of the
shock wave in the cavity. The vortex ring still lies in front
of the jet, and its volume grows due to the entrainment of
surrounding fluids. As the jet velocity is lower than the shock
wave velocity, the area of the high-density region expands.
The density of the expelled gas stays the same as that at
28.55 μs.
7
H-h Zong et al
The jet shape changes significantly at 57.11 μs. In the aver-
aged grayscale difference image, the jet front becomes sharp
and the whole jet resembles a hammer. The vortex ring is over-
taken by the center jet. There are two reasons for this phenom­
enon. On the one hand, due to the entrainment of the low
velocity fluids, the vortex ring moves at a decreasing speed.
On the other hand, the discharge energy is deposited over a
relatively long time due to the introduction of the magn­etic
switch (about 50 μs), and the jet exhaust velocity gradually
increases before 57 μs (see figure 8). Compared with that at
42.83 μs, the jet in the Schlieren image becomes brighter and
the density of the expelled gas drops substantially, to about
0.2 kg m−3.
At 71.38 μs, the distance between the vortex ring and the jet
front continues to increase. The axial scale of the vortex ring
extends, and the vortex ring profile resembles paired kidneys
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
Figure 8.  Jet front velocity and precursor shock wave velocity.
Figure 9.  Averaged grayscale difference above the exit.
in shape. Owing to the entrainment of the low density jet, the
density in the vortex ring core decreases from 1.0 kg m−3 to
approximately 0.7 kg m−3, and the jet behind the vortex ring
becomes thin. Affected by the second shock wave, another
high-density region is formed in front of the jet. The density
of the expelled gas is slightly different to that at 57.11 μs.
The jet diameter above the exit diminishes greatly after
171.32 μs, illustrating that the jet is about to terminate. The
density in the vortex ring core and above the exit increases
considerably. At 314.09 μs, no jet issues from the orifice and
the density in the vortex ring core is close to the ambient den-
sity. In the Schlieren image and the averaged grayscale differ-
ence image the influence of the jet on the flow field becomes
very weak. The low-density regions can only be seen near the
actuator axis. Affected by the vortex ring, the whole density
field is separated into two independent regions. After 456.86 μs
the vortex ring breaks down. The maximum propagation dis-
tance exceeds 35 mm.
3.2.  Major performance parameters
Based on the image processing methods, some important
parameters are extracted to evaluate the jet intensity [30],
including the jet front velocity and the jet duration. However,
this is not enough. Other parameters, including the maximum
density rise behind the shock wave, the mass flow rate and
8
H-h Zong et al
Figure 10.  Variation of the density distribution along the actuator
axis.
Figure 11.  Maximum density rise behind the precursor shock wave.
the impulse, should also be calculated to further evaluate the
intensity of the shock waves and the jet.
3.2.1. Jet front velocity, jet duration and shock wave veloc-
ity.  The jet front/shock wave velocity is determined by the
framing rate and the difference of the jet front/shock wave
position. The jet duration is obtained by monitoring the aver-
aged grayscale difference above the exit. The jet front velocity
and the precursor shock wave velocity are shown in figure 8,
and the variation in the averaged grayscale difference is pre-
sented in figure 9.
In the jet stage, the jet front velocity first increases and
then decreases. A maximum jet front velocity of 270 m s−1
is reached at 57 μs. The jet front velocity then drops sharply
with a half-life period of about 42 μs. After 225 μs, the
jet front velocity varies a little, ranging from 40 m s−1 to
50 m s−1. There is a 28 μs delay between the discharge being
triggered and the expulsion of the jet, which is supposed to be
caused by the shock wave propagation and the long energy
deposition. In the initial stage, the precursor shock wave is
supersonic, with a peak velocity of 370 m s−1. However, the
shock wave velocity decays rapidly to 340 m s−1 within the
first 57 μs.
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
Figure 12.  The averaged density at the exit. (a) Results obtained with our method. (b) Simulation results from [46]. Part (b) reproduced
with permission from [46], copyright Inderscience Enterprises Limited.
The variation in the averaged grayscale difference above
the exit is similar to that of the jet front velocity. When the jet
issues out of the orifice, the averaged grayscale difference goes
up quickly. The maximum grayscale difference and the peak jet
front velocity occur at the same time. The averaged grayscale
difference then gradually decreases as the jet intensity drops.
Once the grayscale is below the critical value (10 grayscale
points), the jet can be regarded as having terminated. The esti-
mated jet duration corresponding to figure 9 is about 150 μs.
3.2.2.  The maximum density rise behind the shock wave.  The
variation in the density distribution along the actuator axis is
shown in figure 10.
Several positive peaks in the density are indicated that are
associated with the high-density region formed behind the
shock wave shown in figure 7. At 57.11 μs and 71.38 μs, the
second shock wave is also identified. The intensity of the shock
wave is not only represented by the propagation velocity, but
also by the maximum density rise behind the shock wave.
Variation in the maximum density rise is extracted from the
curves in figure 10 and shown in figure 11.
Over the whole evolution the maximum density rise behind
the shock wave shows an initial increase and then a gradual
decrease, with a peak value of 0.12 kg m−3. The presence of the
first increase is thought to be caused by the second shock wave,
and the underlying mechanism needs to be revealed in the fur-
ther research. The drop in the maximum density rise in the first
42 μs after the peak is very sharp and then relatively slow.
Combining the above analyses, it can be concluded that the
disturbance of the plasma synthetic jet is huge, but at the same
time short-lived. Both the intensity of the induced jet and that
of the shock wave will decay sharply with a half-life period of
about 50 μs. With the effect of repetitive working considered,
the drop in the jet intensity may be even quicker. In further
design and research of the PSJA, the maximum performance
parameters at the single working mode should be emphasized,
in addition to focusing on the performance decay speed at the
single and the repetitive working modes in order to obtain a
time-averaged effect in the flow control.
9
H-h Zong et al
3.3.3.  Mass flow rate and impulse.  Many studies show that
a minimum ratio of the jet momentum flux and the main flow
momentum flux (about 1%) is necessary in jet flow control
in order to obtain an obvious control effect [45]. Hence it is
important to calculate the mass flow rate of the PSJA. There
are still many obstacles to direct measurement that need to
be solved. In this section, a simplified method is proposed to
estimate the mass flow rate.
The mass flow rate of the jet is defined as follows
Qm(t ) = ρexit (t ) ⋅ vexit (t ) ⋅ Sexit
(9)
where ρexit (t ) and vexit (t ) are the averaged density and the aver-
aged exit velocity, respectively; Sexit is the area of the exit. As
the averaged exit density is known, the mass flow rate can be
calculated with the given exit velocity. Three assumptions are
made to estimate of the exit velocity, as shown below.
(a) The maximum exit velocity is equal to the maximum jet
front velocity.
(b) The variation in the exit velocity in the rising stage is
equal to that of the jet front velocity, due to the short
propagation distance of the jet front.
(c) The variation in the exit velocity in the falling stage is
assumed to be linear. The fall time is calculated by sub-
tracting the rise time from the jet duration.
Based on these assumptions, the mass flow rate and the
expelled mass per pulse can be obtained. At first, the averaged
exit density is extracted from the density contour and shown in
figure 12(a).
Before 42 μs, the averaged exit density is relatively high—
about 1.0 kg m−3. Afterwards, the averaged density shows a sharp
decrease then a gradual increase. The simulation results obtained
in [46] are shown in figure  12(b) to validate our results. Both
the minimum exit density (~0.1 kg m−3) and the variation trend
agree well in the two panels. However, the recovery process in
figure 12(b) is slower than that in figure 12(a), which is thought to
be caused by the small orifice diameter (0.50–0.72 mm) adopted
in [46]. The variation trend in the exit density can be illustrated
by the pressurization process in the actuator cavity.
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
Figure 13.  The mass flow rate and the nondimensional expelled
mass.
Pressurization in the cavity is realized by the propaga-
tion and reflection of the shock waves induced by the arc
discharge. The distributions of the pressure and the temper­
ature in the cavity are rather uneven. After the propagation
of the precursor shock wave, the fluids close to the exit
are first expelled. Owing to the large distance from the arc
center, the temperature and density of the fluids near the
exit are very close to that of the atmosphere, resulting in
the high averaged exit density before 42 μs. As the pres-
surization in the cavity is not complete, the pressure differ-
ence across the throat is not at the maximum, leading to a
lower jet front velocity. The pres­sure and the temperature
near the exit then gradually increase due to the continuous
reflection of the shock waves and the expasion of the high-
temperature region induced by the arc discharge. Driven by
the large pressure difference across the throat, the jet front
velocity increases, whereas the exit density drops. After the
energy deposition terminates, the cavity pres­sure begins to
drop gradually resulting in a decreasing exit velocity and an
increasing jet density.
Figure 13 shows the variation in the mass flow rate and the
nondimensional expelled mass normalized by dividing by the
initial gas mass in the cavity.
The mass flow rate varies a lot in over the working period,
with the maximum (0.35 g s−1) and the minimum (0.05 g s−1)
presenting at 42 μs and 56 μs, respectively. The total expelled
mass in one period occupies 26% of the initial gas mass in the
cavity. With the refresh stage neglected, the impulse of the
PSJA in one period (denoted Ip), can be estimated with the
following equation
tjet tjet
Ip =
(10)Fp(t )dt = ∫0
Qm(t ) ⋅ vexit (t )dt ∫0
where Fp(t ) is the instantaneous thrust of the PSJA. The
impulse produced is estimated to be 5 μN s–1, resulting in a
time-averaged thrust of 10–20 mN while the PSJA is working
repetitively in several kHz. This thrust is on the same order as
the thrust induced by the dielectric barrier discharge actuator
per unit length (1 m) [26].
10
H-h Zong et al
4. Conclusions
A quantitative Schlieren method is developed to calculate the
density field of axisymmetric flows. Compared with the BOS
method, this technique has a higher spatial resolution. With
this method, the flow field structures of the plasma synthetic
jet are analyzed in detail. Key performance parameters of the
PSJA, including the maximum density increase behind the
shock wave, the mass flow rate and the impulse, are calculated
based on image processing methods.
The pressurization process in the actuator cavity is realized
by the continuous propagation and reflection of the shock waves
induced by arc discharge. After the precursor shock wave passes,
a low-velocity but high-density jet is issued. Owing to the strong
shear, a vortex ring is formed in front of the jet. During the prop-
agation, this vortex ring gradually lags behind the center jet. The
axial and the radial scales of the vortex ring increase, leading to
the vortex ring profile resembling paired kidneys. After the jet
terminates, the vortex ring breaks down and the whole density
field is separated into two independent regions.
In one period, the jet front velocity first increases and then
decreases, with a maximum value of 270 m s−1. Variation of
the maximum density rise behind the precursor shock wave is
similar to that of the jet front velocity, with a peak density rise
of about 0.12 kg m−3. Both the maximum density rise behind
the shock wave and the jet front velocity decay very quickly,
with a half-life period less than 50 μs. The maximum mass
flux of the jet is about 0.35 g s−1, and 26% of the cavity gas is
expelled in jet stage. The impulse produced by PSJA in the jet
stage is estimated to be 5 μN · s.
The quantitative Schlieren method developed can also be
applied in other compressible axisymmetric flows. The key
performance parameters calculated are significant in quantita-
tively researching the intensity of the shock wave and the jet.
Acknowledgments
This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (51522606, 91541120, 11472306,
51336011, 51407197), the Science Foundation for the Author
of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China (201172).
References
[1] Cattafesta L N and Sheplak M 2011 Actuators for active flow
control Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 43 247–72
[2] Corke T C, Enloe C L and Wilkinson S P 2010 Dielectric
barrier discharge plasma actuators for flow control Annu.
Rev. Fluid Mech. 42 505–29
[3] Li Y H, Wu Y and Li J 2012 Review of the investigation on
plasma flow control in China Int. J. Flow Control 4 1–17
[4] Webb N, Clifford C and Samimy M 2013 Control of oblique
shock wave/boundary layer interactions using plasma
actuators Exp. Fluids 54 1545
[5] Bletzinger P et al 2005 Plasmas in high speed aerodynamics
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 38 R33–57
[6] Grossman K R, Cybyk B Z and Van Wie D M 2003 Sparkjet
actuators for flow control 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting
and Exhibit (doi: 10.2514/6.2003-57)
Meas. Sci. Technol. 27 (2016) 055301
[7] Anderson K and Knight D 2012 Plasma jet for flight control
AIAA J. 50 1855–73
[8] Popkin S H, Taylor T M and Cybyk B Z 2013 Development
and application of the plasma synthetic jet actuator for high-
speed flow control Johns Hopkins APL Tech. Dig. 32 404–19
[9] Caruana D et al 2009 The ‘plasma synthetic jet’ actuator
aero-thermodynamic characterization and first flow
control applications 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting
Including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace
Exposition (doi: 10.2514/6.2009-1307)
[10] Hardy P et al 2010 Plasma synthetic jet for flow control
40th Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit (doi:
10.2514/6.2010-5103)
[11] Narayanaswamy V, Rajia L and Clemens N T 2012 Control
of unsteadiness of a shock wave/turbulent boundary layer
interaction by using a pulsed-plasma-jet actuator Phys.
Fluids 24 076101
[12] Emerick T et al 2014 Sparkjet characterizations in quiescent
and supersonic flow fields Exp. Fluids 55 1858
[13] Cybyk B Z et al 2005 Single-pulse performance of the sparkjet
flow control actuator 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences
Meeting and Exhibit (doi: 10.2514/6.2005-401)
[14] Haack S J, Taylor T and Cybyk B Z 2011 Experimental
estimation of sparkjet efficiency 42nd AIAA Plasmadynamics
and Lasers Conference (doi: 10.2514/6.2011-3997)
[15] Golbabaei-Asl M et al 2013 Sparkjet efficiency 51st AIAA
Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons
Forum and Aerospace Exposition (doi: 10.2514/6.2013-928)
[16] Golbabaei-Asl M, Knight D and Wilkinson S 2015 Novel
technique to determine sparkjet efficiency AIAA J. 53 501–4
[17] Haack S J et al 2010 Development of an analytical
sparkjet model 5th Flow Control Conference (doi:
10.2514/6.2010-4979)
[18] Zong H H et al 2015 Analytic model and frequency
characteristics of plasma synthetic jet actuator Phys. Fluids
27 027105
[19] Sary G, Dufour G and Kourtzanidis K 2014 Modeling and
parametric study of a plasma synthetic jet for flow control
AIAA J. 52 1591–603
[20] Laurendeau F, Chedevergne F and Casalis G 2014 Transient
ejection phase modeling of a plasma synthetic jet actuator
Phys. Fluids 26 125101
[21] Zhu Y F et al 2015 Influence of positive slopes on ultrafast
heating in an atmospheric nanosecond-pulsed plasma
synthetic jet Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 24 015007
[22] Kotsonis M 2015 Diagnostics for characterization of plasma
actuators Meas. Sci. Technol. 26 092001
[23] Ko H S et al 2010 Analysis of flow distribution from high-
speed flow actuator using particle image velocimetry and
digital speckle tomography Flow Meas. Instrum. 21 443–53
[24] Laurendeau F et al 2015 PIV and electric characterization of
a plasma synthetic jet actuator 45th AIAA Fluid Dynamics
Conference (doi: 10.2514/6.2015-2465)
[25] Thomas F O et al 2009 Optimization of dielectric barrier
discharge plasma actuators for active aerodynamic flow
control AIAA J. 47 2169–78
11
H-h Zong et al
[26] Porter C O et al 2006 Temporal force measurements on
an aerodynamic plasma actuator 44th AIAA Aerospace
Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (doi: 10.2514/6.2006-104)
[27] Cybyk B Z et al 2006 Experimental characterization of a
supersonic flow control actuator 44th AIAA Aerospace
Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (doi: 10.2514/6.2006-478)
[28] Belinger A et al 2011 Influence of the energy dissipation rate
in the discharge of a plasma synthetic jet actuator J. Phys.
D: Appl. Phys. 44 365201
[29] Reedy T M et al 2013 Experimental characterization of a
pulsed plasma jet AIAA J. 51 2027–31
[30] Zong H H et al 2015 Influence of capacitor energy on
performance of a three-electrode plasma synthetic jet
actuator Sensors Actuators A 222 114–21
[31] Wang L et al 2014 Three-electrode plasma synthetic jet
actuator for high-speed flow control AIAA J. 52 879–82
[32] Belinger A et al 2011 Influence of the spark discharge size
on a plasma synthetic jet actuator IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.
39 2334–5
[33] Shin J 2010 Characteristics of high speed electro-thermal
jet activated by pulsed DC discharge Chin. J. Aeronaut.
23 518–22
[34] Wang L et al 2014 Effect of pressure on the performance of
plasma synthetic jet actuator Sci. China A 57 2309–15
[35] Narayanaswamy V, Rajia L and Clemens N T 2010
Characterization of a high-frequency pulsed-plasma jet
actuator for supersonic flow control AIAA J. 48 297–305
[36] Richard H and Raffel M 2001 Principle and applications of the
background oriented Schlieren (BOS) method Meas. Sci.
Technol. 12 1576–85
[37] Raffel M 2015 Background-oriented Schlieren (BOS)
techniques Exp. Fluids 56 60
[38] Joannes L, Dubois F and Legros J C 2003 Phase-shifting
Schlieren: high-resolution quantitative Schlieren that uses the
phase-shifting technique principle Appl. Opt. 42 5046–53
[39] Hargather M J and Settles G S 2012 A comparison of three
quantitative Schlieren techniques Opt. Lasers Eng. 50 8–17
[40] Davis M R 1972 Quantitative Schlieren measurements in a
supersonic turbulent jet J. Fluid Mech. 51 435–47
[41] Kogelschatz U and Schneider W R 1972 Quantitative
Schlieren techniques applied to high current arc
investigations Appl. Opt. 11 1822–32
[42] Xu D A et al 2014 Thermal and hydrodynamic effects of
nanosecond discharges in atmospheric pressure air J. Phys.
D: Appl. Phys. 47 235202
[43] Walsh T E and Kihm K D 1995 Tomographic deconvolution
of laser speckle photography for axisymmetric flame
temperature measurement J. Flow Vis. Image Process.
2 299–310
[44] Smith L M, Keefer D R and Sudharsanan S I 1988 Abel
inversion using transform techniques J. Quant. Spectrosc.
Radiat. Transfer 39 367–73
[45] Seifert A et al 1993 Oscillatory blowing: a tool to delay
boundary-layer separation AIAA J. 31 2052–60
[46] Dufour G et al 2013 Physics and models for plasma synthetic
jets Int. J. Aerodyn. 3 47–70