Effect of electrohydrodynamic interaction on the stability of a flat plate laminar boundary layer

The stability of a unipolarly charged electrohydrodynamic boundary layer on a flat dielectric plate along which an electric current flows between electrodes located on the plate is investigated within the framework of the linear theory. The solution of the steady-state problem is obtained on the basis of methods developed earlier for conditions typical of aerodynamical experiments and various electric currents and electrode voltages. The effect of the interaction between perturbations of the electric and hydrodynamic flow parameters on the flow stability is estimated within the framework of the locally homogeneous approximation. This effect turns out to be insignificant under the conditions considered. It is shown that steady-state electrohydrodynamic action on the main flow makes it possible to obtain "accelerating" velocity profiles with increased absolute values of the second derivative in the transverse direction. This ensures a significant increase in the critical Reynolds numbers of loss of stability and a narrowing of the growing perturbation wavenumber range.