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US 7,017,863 B2Granted
Turbulent flow drag reduction
AssigneeBAE SYSTEMS plc
InventorsSimon J Scott, Graham A Johnson, Edward Thornton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to apparatus for influencing fluid flow over a surface, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to turbulent boundary layer flow drag reduction for an aircraft. The present invention provides such apparatus including a plasma generator comprising first and second spaced-apart independently controllable electrodes operable to cause a change in direction of the flow of the fluid over the surface.
Claims11
Apparatus for influencing fluid flow over a surface, the apparatus comprising:
- a plasma generator;
- sheet dielectric having first and second sides;
- first and second electrodes on said first side of said sheet dielectric;
- a third electrode on said second side of said sheet dielectric, the first and second sides of said sheet dielectric being generally opposed, wherein:
- each of the first and second electrodes comprise a plurality of electrically-connected interdigitated elongate elements;
- the first and second electrodes, responsive to said plasma generator, are independently controllable and cause a change in direction of the flow of the fluid over the surface, wherein the plasma generator drives the first and second electrodes alternately.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.