Active Flow Control of Low-Pressure Turbine by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator

In order to reduce dynamic loss and improve the performance of low-pressure turbines, the technology of active flow control of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator was used to control the internal flow of a low-pressure turbine using a numerical simulation method. In this paper, the effect of plasma actuation on the cascade flow field with different actuator positions and applied voltages was studied. The results show that the closer the plasma actuator is to the leading edge of the cascade, the better the control effect of the plasma actuation. When the actuator is aligned with the leading edge of the cascade, the total pressure loss at the outlet is reduced by 4.5%. Plasma actuation has a greater ability to restrain outlet loss at higher voltage, but the control effect tends to saturation as the applied voltage increases. Total pressure loss is reduced by 8.2% for U-0 = 15 kV. The plasma actuation decreases the lateral pressure gradient in the cascade passage thus suppresses the lateral movement of low energy fluids from the pressure side to the suction side. The height of the passage vortex and total pressure loss are restrained, which is an important reason for decreasing outlet loss.