Experimental Investigation of Cooling of a Plate by Ionic Wind from a Corona-Forming Wire Electrode

We report on the results of experimental investigations of the kinematic structure of ionic wind from a wire electrode placed near a heated plate, which plays the role of the earthed electrode. Experiments are carried out in a wide range of voltages for different polarities of the wire for several values of the electrode gap. We compare the structures of the flows emerging as a result of natural convection in open air for different positions of the plate and in the presence of a fast ionic wind jet that considerably intensifies heat transfer in the boundary layer at the heated planar electrode. Local temperature distributions over the plate surface are obtained, as well as the integral dependences of the effective heat removal on the electric parameters of the corona discharge. The velocity of air flows with ionic wind reaches 4 m/s, and the heat power removed from the plate for fixed overheating increases ninefold compared to the situation with natural convection.