Jodi Grace Reeve

• BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering
• Developing next-generation plasma actuators to tame the turbulence flowing over aerodynamic vehicles

The need for reducing our carbon footprint and reducing our fuel usage is becoming steadily more important. One method to combat the consumption of fuel in aircrafts is to reduce the friction at the surface of the aeroplane body, therefore decreasing the opposing force exerted on the plane by the surrounding air. Controlling flow over an aerodynamic vehicle, and therefore reducing friction at the aeroplane surface, could be achieved through the implementation of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators which are comprised of two electrodes; one electrode is exposed to airflow and the other is placed at the surface of the vehicle. A dielectric sheet separates the two electrodes. When an AC voltage is applied, a plasma is created. In this project, a DBD plasma actuator will be designed and fabricated, before being mounted on a test plate and subjected to experiments in a wind tunnel.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Project supervisor: Dr Richard Whalley