Progress and outlook of plasma flow control

Plasma flow control is a new type of active flow control technology based on plasma aerodynamic actuation which is advantageous of short reactive time and broad bandwidth. The prospect of plasma flow control on improving aircraft/engine performance has made it a hot topic in the cross field of plasma dynamics and aerodynamics. This paper presents a review of the research progress from the aspects of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) and arc discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation characteristics, boundary layer control, shock wave control and shock wave/boundary layer interaction control, compressor and turbine flow control, pipe flow and flight control. Also, future development of plasma flow control is looked forward in three aspects, i.e., innovation of plasma aerodynamic actuation, revealing the unsteady coupling mechanism of plasma aerodynamic actuation and complex flow, as well as breakthrough of the key technology of plasma flow control system.