Systems and apparatuses for high performance atmosphere thin film piezoelectric resonant plasmas to modulate air flows

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10512150-B2
Application number	US-201815970221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2018
Priority date	May 3, 2018
Publication date	Dec 17, 2019
Grant date	Dec 17, 2019

Abstract

Systems and apparatuses for applying a plasma actuator system for reducing aerodynamic drag of a vehicle by discharging plasma is provided. The system includes: at least one pair of thin films configured to integrate into a pair of electrodes wherein each of the thin films of the pair of thin films is composed of a thin film piezo-electric material; a dielectric configured as an insulator region to separate each electrode integrated with the thin film piezo-electric material; and a power supply to deliver alternating current to each electrode to provide a high voltage output obtained by the thin film piezo-electric material integrated with the pair of electrodes wherein the high voltage output is about 10 kV.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A plasma actuator system for reducing aerodynamic drag of a vehicle by discharging plasma, the system comprising: at least one pair of thin films configured to integrate into a pair of electrodes wherein each of the thin films of the pair of thin films is composed of a thin film piezo-electric material; a dielectric configured as an insulator region to separate each electrode integrated with the thin film piezo-electric material; and a power supply configured to deliver alternating current to each electrode to provide a high voltage output obtained by the thin film piezo-electric material integrated with the pair of electrodes wherein the high voltage output is about 10 kilovolts.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thin films comprise: metal nitrides, metal oxides, mixed metal oxides, metal oxynitrides and mixtures thereof.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the thin films are affixed to the surface of each electrode of the pair of electrodes.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the power supply delivers, from an input alternating current voltage of 5 V and at a resonant frequency of 60 to 70 kHz, an output voltage of 10 KV.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the pair of electrodes is offset or overlaps the other.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma discharged is a cold plasma.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material separating the electrode pair is embedded with thin film material and at least one electrode of the electrode pair.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising: modulating power of the power supply to the segments of the piezoelectric transformer and the thin film actuators to control the drag over the vehicle.

9. A plasma actuator system for mitigating adverse aerodynamic affects experienced by a vehicle, the plasma actuator system comprising: a first layer composed of dielectric material; a second layer comprising: a first and a second electrode residing on the first layer wherein the first electrode has a surface area which is completely covered by the dielectric material of the first layer, and the second electrode has a surface area which is uncovered by the dielectric material of the first layer; and a third layer of thin film material comprising: a piezo-electric material with a thickness in a 2 nm to 2 m range wherein the third layer is integrated onto both the covered and uncovered surface areas of the first and second electrodes; and a power supply providing a voltage across the first and second electrodes to generate, via the piezo-electric material of the third layer, a cold plasma output.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the piezo-electric material comprises: metal nitrides, metal oxides, mixed metal oxides, metal oxynitrides and mixtures thereof.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply delivers, from an input alternating current voltage of 5 V and at a resonant frequency of 60 kHz to 70 kHz, an output voltage of 10 KV.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first electrode is offset from the second electrode.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first electrode overlaps the second electrode.

14. The system of claim 9 , further comprising: a left positioned plasma actuator configured in a flat design in segments enabling the left positioned plasma actuator to be flush with a surface of the vehicle on the left lateral side to mitigate adverse air flow affects thereby controlling drag over the vehicle wherein the left positioned plasma actuator is a thin filmed actuator.

15. The system of claim 9 , further comprising: a right positioned plasma actuator configured in a flat design in segments enabling the right positioned plasma actuator to be flush with a surface of the vehicle on the right lateral side to mitigate adverse air flow affects thereby controlling drag over the vehicle wherein the right positioned plasma actuator is a thin filmed actuator.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Dadheech Gayatri V
• Khalighi Bahram
• Han Taeyoung

Classifications

• F15D1/0075

  comprising electromagnetic or electrostatic means for influencing the state of the fluid, e.g. for ionising the fluid or for generating a plasma · CPC title

• B62D35/02 Primary

  Streamlining the undersurfaces {(B62D35/005, B62D35/007, B62D35/008 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B64C23/00

  Influencing air flow over aircraft surfaces, not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• H05H1/2406 Primary

  using dielectric barrier discharges, i.e. with a dielectric interposed between the electrodes · CPC title

• H05H1/2441

  characterised by the physical-chemical properties of the dielectric, e.g. porous dielectric · CPC title