Effects of Fixed Leading-Edge DBD Plasma Actuation on Pressure-Derived Lift of a NACA 0012 Airfoil

In this study, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator was placed at the leading edge of a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 0012 airfoil to act on the separation initiation point, rather than on an already separated flow farther downstream on the upper surface. The aerodynamic response was examined using complementary measurements: (i) quiescent-air thrust characterization to quantify the actuator forcing level for two dielectric configurations under voltage and frequency sweeps, (ii) wind-tunnel surface-pressure measurements on the upper and lower surfaces over an angle-of-attack sweep, and (iii) smoke-wire flow visualization. To enable consistent actuator-OFF/ON comparisons despite non-matching tap locations, a pressure-derived lift coefficient was evaluated by integrating Cp,l−Cp,u over the common instrumented chordwise interval x/c = 0.2533~0.7620 after linear interpolation onto a common grid. The results demonstrate that a single fixed leading-edge actuation setting is not universally beneficial across the angle of attack. The actuation effect on the lift increment is small at α =4° and 8° and should be interpreted cautiously, given the pressure coefficient resolution, whereas near stall and post-stall conditions exhibit a robust redistribution of the surface-pressure field and can yield strongly negative lift increments (e.g., α =18°). These findings highlight the need for condition-dependent evaluation and design guidelines for leading-edge DBD actuation, based on measured pressure-field changes.