Special Issue: Flow Control and Thermal Management

Tests on in-flight drag reduction using AC-DBD plasma flow control

  • Xi GENG ,
  • Pengchang DONG ,
  • Qijie SUN ,
  • Zhikun SUN ,
  • He ZHU ,
  • Xiaohui QIAN ,
  • Keming CHENG ,
  • Zhiwei SHI
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  • 1.College of Aerospace Engineering,Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,Nanjing 210016,China
    2.Ministerial Key Laboratory of Unsteady Aerodynamics and Flow Control,Nanjing 210016,China
    3.Jiangsu Industrial Technology Engineering Center for Safe Operations of Low-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,Suqian 223800,China
E-mail: xhqian@nuaa.edu.cn

Received date: 2025-12-08

  Revised date: 2026-01-06

  Accepted date: 2026-02-27

  Online published: 2026-03-16

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(92471111);Aeronautical Science Foundation of China(20240012052001);National Key Laboratory Foundation of Helicopter Dynamics(ZAG2500624)

Abstract

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuators have demonstrated significant potential for active flow control, owing to their distinct advantages, including the absence of moving mechanical parts, a lightweight structure, and rapid response time. 24 pairs of alternating current DBD plasma actuators were arranged on a Davis wing. The flow control effectiveness and drag-reduction performance were systematically evaluated through wind-tunnel force measurements, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) flow-field measurements, and actual flight tests. Wind tunnel results indicate that plasma actuation effectively modulates near-wall flow structures. The wall jet induced by the actuation interacts with near-wall structures, leading to changes in coherent structures: compression of the streamwise extent, enlargement of the spanwise streak spacing, and a reduction in the inclination angle from 15.94° to 9.20°. This flow-control effect suppresses the lift-up motion of quasi-streamwise vortex pairs, weakening momentum transport and attenuating Reynolds shear stress in the near-wall region, thereby reducing skin-friction drag. Based on these findings, circling flight tests were conducted using an unmanned aerial vehicle at a fixed altitude and airspeed. Drag reduction effects were evaluated by monitoring changes in motor power under conditions of an airspeed of 24 m/s, a peak-to-peak actuation voltage of 10 kV, and an angle of attack of 4° (close to the maximum lift-to-drag ratio state). The results demonstrate that upon activating plasma actuation, the aircraft's ground speed increased by approximately 7.1%, with a peak drag reduction of 7.59% and an average drag reduction of 6.15%. The consistent drag-reduction trends observed in both wind tunnel and flight tests validate the effectiveness and engineering feasibility of this flow-control method in real-world flight environments.

Cite this article

Xi GENG , Pengchang DONG , Qijie SUN , Zhikun SUN , He ZHU , Xiaohui QIAN , Keming CHENG , Zhiwei SHI . Tests on in-flight drag reduction using AC-DBD plasma flow control[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(13) : 533206 -533206 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2026.33206

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