Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583

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Mathematical and Computer Modelling

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mcm

An asymptotic model for steady wire-to-wire corona discharges

P. Seimandi , G. Dufour, F. Rogier
ONERA Centre de Toulouse - 2, av. Edouard Belin BP 4025 - 31055, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

article info abstract

Article history: The purpose of this paper is to propose a new model based on an asymptotic analysis for
Received 12 December 2008 the modelling of steady wire-to-wire corona discharges. The concept consists in dividing
Received in revised form 18 January 2009 the discharges into regions of two kinds: two thin ionization layers at the vicinity of the
Accepted 9 March 2009
electrodes and a much larger ion-drift region. Introducing the length of the ionization layer
and using an asymptotic analysis to define a truncated system, a simplified kinetic can
Keywords:
be considered for each region which allows finding quasi-analytical solutions. The method
Plasma actuator
Corona discharge
is validated by comparison with a classical scheme and the results show good agreement
Ionic wind with experiments. Finally, an example of parametric study of the discharge is presented.
Asymptotic analysis Indeed, the ability of the model to provide solutions at low computational cost allows
quickly performing such a study and could be useful to experimenters in order to suggest
new geometric settings or experimental setups.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

In the last decade, research on electrohydrodynamic (EHD) actuators for active flow control has been expanding [1].
Indeed, such actuators present many advantages: they can be used at atmospheric pressure, do not involve any mechanical
part and can be controlled on a very short time scale. The plasma discharges generated by those devices induce a flow, usually
referred to as the ionic wind or the electric wind; this flow being able to modify the velocity profile in the boundary layer.
Two types of discharges are generally investigated: the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) [2,3] and the corona discharge [4,
5]. Both discharges are able to produce an ionic wind of a velocity of several meters per second at the vicinity of the wall [1].
Practically, the numerical simulation of DBD or corona discharges is often limited by the important computational cost
it requires. Indeed, the presence of multi-scale phenomena and the steep variation of the electric field impose an important
refinement of the mesh at the vicinity of the electrodes. Moreover, the intensity of the electric field being very important
in this area, the electrons are carried at high velocity and the CFL condition becomes very restrictive. This, added to other
time step limitations imposed by the dielectric or by the kinetic, makes simulations over long time scales difficult to be
achieved. Up to the present time, these problems of numerical limitations have been investigated by only a few researchers.
Recently, Unfer et al. [6] proposed an asynchronous scheme with local time stepping and applied it to the simulation of a
DBD, resulting in an important gain in terms of computational cost. However, the implementation of this method remains
relatively difficult. For more details on these kinds of methods, the interested reader may also refer to the references cited
in [6].
In this paper, we are interested in the modelling of a corona discharge. A model, built via asymptotic analysis, is proposed
for the simulation of steady corona discharges between two thin wires. This work is the starting point of our research and
will serve as a basis for the development of an unsteady bi-dimensional model. The idea of the method, based on the work of
Durbin et al. [7,8], is to separate the discharges into two types of regions: a thin layer at the vicinity of the electrodes, in which

Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 5 62 25 25 25.

E-mail addresses: pierre.seimandi@onera.fr (P. Seimandi), guillaume.dufour@onera.fr (G. Dufour), francois.rogier@onera.fr (F. Rogier).

0895-7177/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2009.03.005
 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583 575

y
Plasma thickness

x
ra rc
Smax

Fig. 1. Plasma thickness S for a wire-to-wire configuration.

ionization is the major process, and a much larger ion-drift region, in which almost no ionization takes place and where
particles are mostly carried. For each region, simplified models are built, only taking into account the significant reactions.
Then, the interface between the different models is ensured under some conditions and a continuous global model is
built.
The principle of the method is introduced in Section 2 along with the model on which the asymptotic analysis is
performed. Then, the asymptotic model is described in Section 3 and a numerical validation of the method is presented
in Section 4. Finally, a parametric study is performed and commented in Section 5.

2. Physical background

Ionization is one of the major process in the creation of a plasma by EHD actuators. It produces an important amount
of the charged species and can only occur if the electric field is greater than a given ionization field (around 40 kV cm1
for air at atmospheric pressure). For a wire-to-wire plasma discharge, electric field high enough to allow ionization are
only found on a thin layer near the electrodes. Indeed, for such a setup, the electric field decreases rapidly away from the
electrodes and almost no ionization occurs over most of the inter-electrode space. Following that observation, the discharge
can be described as two thin ionization layers at the vicinity of the electrodes and a much larger ion-drift region. Near the
electrodes, ionization is so important that others reactions can be neglected. In the ion-drift region, the electric field is too
low and almost no ionization takes place. Thus, depending on the region studied, simplified kinetic can be considered and
reduced models can be built.
Such analysis of the discharge was first applied by Durbin et al. to steady corona discharge induced by coaxial cylinders [7,
8]. Using the radial symmetry of the device and the fact that the ionization layer near the anode is very thin, they applied the
asymptotic analysis to a mono-dimensional model and matched the reduced models in the appropriate asymptotic regions.
In this paper, the setup studied is comprised of two parallel wires in air at atmospheric pressure. The thinnest electrode
has a radius ra and is raised to a high positive voltage 0 . The other one has a radius rc and is linked to the ground. The
two wire centers are separated by a distance L = ra + d + rc , where d is the gap between the two electrodes surfaces.
Because it is a radially asymmetric device, the plasma is described with a mono-dimensional model that partially takes into
account the bi-dimensional characteristic of the discharge. The starting point of our work is the quasi-2D model developed
by Mato-Vlez [9,10] for a wire-to-wire setup. This model supposes that the plasma extends over a thickness S (x), directly
linked to the electrostatic field, over which all variables are assumed to remain constant (see Fig. 1).
The quasi-2D model is developed from a classical driftdiffusion model used to describe a collisional plasma. If we assume
that the plasma consists of electron, positive ion and negative ion species, noted with respective subscripts e, + and , then
the density Nk of the charged specie k is described by the conservation equation:
Nk
+ .(Nk Uk ) = k , (1)
t
where k is the production rate of the specie k. For the sake of simplicity, the diffusion will be neglected and the discharge
studied without external flow. For the specie k, if Zk denotes the electric charge, k the electronic mobility and E the electric
field, the velocity Uk is given by:
Uk = sign(Zk ) k E .
Here, the electron and ion mobilities are assumed to be independent from the electric field.
The electric field is described by the Poisson equation. If denotes the electric potential, we have:
e X
= Zk Nk , (2a)
0 k

E = , (2b)
where e is the elementary charge and 0 the medium permittivity.
The action of a plasma discharge on the aerodynamic flow is the result of the motion of charged particles and their
collisions with particles of the surrounding gas. Following Boeuf et al. [11], the volumetric force F exerted by the discharge
576 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583

on the flow will be expressed as:

X
F =e Zk Nk E . (3)
k

The kinetic of the air at atmospheric pressure consists of a large number of reactions. In [12], Kossyi describes a
quite exhaustive kinetic scheme for non-equilibrium discharges in nitrogenoxygen mixtures with about 450 reactions.
A simplified model, proposed by Morrow and Lowke [13,14], describes the plasma as a five species fluid and simplifies
the kinetic to ten reactions. This model takes into account ionization, electronic attachment, recombination, electronic
detachment, excitation of neutrals and quenching of excited states.
In this paper, the kinetic scheme will be further simplified for the needs of the asymptotic development. Although Degond
et al. demonstrated the role of metastable as an important source of electrons on long time scale [15], only ionization and
electronic attachment are taken into account. The main source of electrons is then ion-induced secondary emission at the
cathode. It should be noted that the ion-induced secondary emission coefficient depends on various parameters such as
the nature of the metallic electrode. Therefore, the production rates k are written as:
e = i Ne |Ue | Ne |Ue |, (4a)
+ = i Ne |Ue |, (4b)
= Ne |Ue |, (4c)
where i is the ionization coefficient and the attachment coefficient.
From this model, the quasi-2D model is obtained by introducing the plasma thickness S in the mono-dimensional
equations. If denotes any variable, the divergence operator becomes:
1 d
. ( ) (S ) , (5)
S dx
where the plasma thickness is defined in order to have a Laplacian electrostatic field, i.e.:
dext
 
1 d
S = 0. (6)
S dx dx
The expression of the electrostatic potential ext will be the one given by Li and Uhm [16]. They defined a bi-dimensional
analytical solution of the electrostatic potential for a wire-to-wire configuration. The 1D electrostatic potential is deduced
using this formula for y = 0. Knowing ext , a single plasma thickness S (x) verifies (6) for a given maximal plasma thickness
Smax , fixed arbitrarily.
We assume that the discharge is at steady state, thus that the electric field remains strictly positive. Indeed, a partially
negative field would imply a null field in at least one point, where the charged species would be immobile and where an
accumulation would occur, contradicting the steady-state hypothesis.
Finally, the quasi-2D model obtained for the steady discharge is written as follows:
d
 
1 d e

S = (N+ Ne N )


S dx dx 0
= 0

at the anode
d


(SNe Ue ) = S i Ne Ue + S Ne Ue = 0

at the cathode
(MS ) dx with N+ = 0 at the anode (7)
d
(SN+ U+ ) = S i Ne Ue N = 0 at the cathode




dx SNe Ue = SN+ U+ at the cathode.



d (SN U ) = S N U



e e
dx

3. Asymptotic model

The small parameter used for the asymptotic development is introduced through the non-dimensionalization of (7).
The non-dimensional variables are chosen as follows, where dimensional variables will be noted using an asterisk:
k e e 0 x
= , k = , Nk = Nk , x= ,
0 e I0 L
S (x ) 0
S (x) = , = , i = L i , = L .
L L Ei
Here, L = ra + d + rc denotes a characteristic length. I0 represents the linear current (A cm1 ) which is chosen such as
the positive ion flux is equal to 1 at the cathode. Formally, I0 corresponds to the linear current induced by the positive
ions. However, the electrons contribution to the current being negligible, we assume that I0 is the total current. At last,
measures the ratio of the ionization layer thickness to the inter-electrode gap and will be used as the small parameter for
the asymptotic development. Typically, appears to be two magnitude orders lower than the characteristic length.
 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583 577

If k denotes the flux of the specie k defined by k = SNk Uk , the dimensionless form of (7) may be written as:
d  d 
S = SJ (Ne + N N+ )
=1

dx dx at the anode



de i = 0

at the cathode



= e + e
+ = 0
at the anode

(MS ) dx with (8)
d+ i
=0 at the cathode
= e

e = +

at the cathode

dx



+ = 1

d at the cathode


= e

dx
where J is proportional to I0 and is defined by:

I0 L 2
J = . (9)
0 e 02
Let DA , DD and DC be respectively the anode ionization layer, the ion-drift region and the cathode ionization layer. By
definition we have DA DD DC = and the inter-electrode space DT may be defined by DT = DA DD DC . In
this paper, we choose:

DA = [ra , xL ], DD = [xL , xR ], DC = [xR , ra + d].

It should be noted that xL and xR depend on . Also, the electrodes radii and are supposed to be of the same order of
magnitude.
The parameter being defined, reduced models obtained from (8) can be built. For x DA and for x DC , equations
are truncated to the lowest order in after an appropriate change of scale. In this paper, the following scalings are
used:
x 1x
x = for x DA , x = for x DC . (10)

In the ion-drift region, the ionization becomes exponentially low and can be neglected.

Proposition. The asymptotic model can be written as follows:

d  d 2 
e +

S = 2 SJ + + 1DD
=1

e + at the anode


dx dx
=0

de = i (1 + 1 ) + 1 at the cathode




+ = 0

e DA DC e DD at the anode


(MA ) dx with (11)
d+ i = 0 at the cathode
= e (1DA + 1DC )

e = +

at the cathode



dx
+ = 1

d at the cathode.



= e 1DD
dx
The asymptotic model solution, combination of the different solutions found for DA , DD and DC , can be written as follows:

W0 = WA 1DA + WD 1DD + WC 1DC , (12)

where WA , WD and WC are the solution of the reduced model for the anode layer, the ion-drift region and the cathode layer
respectively.

In order to find analytical solutions for each reduced model, some assumptions are made on the kinetic coefficients. The
ionization coefficient, defined explicitly, is taken from [8]. If an asterisk denotes a dimensional variable, the dimensioned
and dimensionless forms of the ionization coefficient are:
   
Ei 1
i = i exp , i = i exp , (13)
|E | |E |
with i = L i . It should be noted that i and Ei are proportional to gas pressure.
The attachment coefficient is assumed to be independent of the local electric field variations induced by the charged
species. Therefore, its values are calculated depending only on the electrostatic field using the numerical code Bolsig [17].
If we suppose that the charged species does not excessively modify the electrostatic field at steady state, will be quite
well represented. Conversely, an important distortion of the electrostatic field would need to adapt the choice of in
consequence.
578 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583

Finally, at the vicinity of the electrodes the plasma thickness is approximated as follows:
S (ra )
S (x) ' x S 0 (0) x DA , with S 0 (0) = ,
ra
S (ra + d)
S (x) ' (1 x) S 0 (1) x DC , with S 0 (1) = .
rc

Proposition. Under the assumptions made above, the asymptotic model (MA ) admits the following solution:
s
e x
+
Z 
1
E (x) = A21 + 2J + S (u)
+ 1DD du, (14a)
S (x) ra e +
 Z xR 
e (x) = eL exp fA1 (x) fA1 (xL ) 1DA + eR exp du 1DD exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 x) 1DC ,
   
(14b)
x

+ (x) = (e (x) e (ra )) 1DA + (1 + + eR ) 1DD + (1 + + e (x)) 1DC , (14c)

  Z xR 
(x) = L 1DA + eR 1 exp du 1DD , (14d)
x

with:
|S 0 (0)| |S 0 (1)|
   
A1 A2
fA1 (x) = i exp x , gA2 (x) = i exp x ,
|S 0 (0)| A1 |S 0 (1)| A2
 Z xR 
eR = exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR ) , eL = eR exp du , L = eR eL .
 
xL

Because E > 0, A1 and A2 are strictly positive constants. The continuity of the solution is verified if A1 , A2 and J verify the
following conditions:

 C1 + exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR ) (C2 1)

 
( ) ( )

exp f r f x =

A1 a A1 L
C2 exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR )

 



e +
Z r a +d  
A22 A21 = 2 J S (x) + + 1DD dx (15)


ra e +

Z ra +d
E (x) dx = 0



ra

with:
xR
 Z 
C 1 = 1 + 1 , C2 = exp du .
xL

Proof. An analytical expression for the electric field is easily obtained for the anode and the cathode ionization layers:
d A1 d A2
= x DA , = x DC ,
dx S 0 (0) x dx S 0 (1) (1 x)
where A1 and A2 are positive constants to be fixed. Using these expressions, the flux are defined for each domain and
expressions of the flux for the entire domain are found ((14b)(14d)). In order to verify the continuity of the flux, the
following conditions have to be fulfilled:
lim e (x) = lim e (x), lim e (x) = lim e (x),
xxL ,xDA xxL ,xDD xxR ,xDC xxR ,xDD

lim + (x) = lim + (x), lim + (x) = lim + (x),

xxL ,xDA xxL ,xDD xxR ,xDC xxR ,xDD

lim (x) = lim (x), lim (x) = lim (x).

xxL ,xDA xxL ,xDD xxR ,xDC xxR ,xDD

Thus, the continuity of the electron and negative ion flux fixes the constants eL , eR and L :
xR
 Z 
eR = exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR ) , eL = eR exp du , L = eR eL ,
 
xL

and the continuity of the positive ion flux imposes:

C1 + exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR ) (C2 1)

 
exp fA1 (ra ) fA1 (xL ) = .
 
(16)
C2 exp gA2 (rc ) gA2 (1 xR )
 
 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583 579

J can be expressed as a functions of A1 and A2 by integrating the equation on the potential of (11) over the total inter-
d
electrode space. Knowing the comportment of S dx near the electrodes, this leads to the following equation:

d e +
Z r a +d
 2 Z r a +d
 
d
S dx = 2 J S (x) + + 1DD dx
ra dx dx ra e +
(17)

Z ra +d  
e +
A22 A21 = 2 J S (x) + + 1DD dx.
ra e +
Similarly, an expression of the electric field can be obtained by integrating the same equation between ra and x:
s
x
e +
Z  
1
E (x) = A21 + 2J S ( u) + + 1DD du.
S ( x) ra e +
Finally, the potential boundary conditions must be fulfilled:
r a +d ra +d
d
Z Z
E (x) dx = dx = 0 .  (18)
ra ra dx

4. Numerical results

In this section, we present numerical results of the asymptotic method. After a short discussion on the method, results are
compared with a steady-state model (8) which is solved using a classical finite volume scheme. Finally, a comparison with
experimental measurements is presented. The setup studied is comprised of two thin wire in air at atmospheric pressure
and generates a steady discharge for the following parameters [18]:
0 = 13 kV, ra = 0.1 mm, rc = 1 mm, L = 10 mm.
The length of the electrodes is 20 cm. The other parameters of the discharge used for the simulation are:
Smax = 0.25 mm, = 104 , e = 300 cm2 s1 V1 ,
i = 104 cm1 , Ei = 240 kV cm1 , + = = 3.4617 cm2 s1 V1 .

4.1. Preamble discussion on the asymptotic method

In the previous section, we have seen that A1 , A2 and J must satisfy equations (15) in order to ensure the continuity of
the solution. However, depending on the setup studied, neither uniqueness nor existence of solutions are ensured. Indeed,
depending of the voltage applied, one, two or no solutions can be found for given electrode radius and inter-electrode gap.
For low voltages, no solution exists other than zero. In our opinion, this lack of solution can be explained by the fact that
a stable discharge cannot be initiated unless a minimum voltage is applied. Over such a voltage, a unique solution is found
and the current intensity rises progressively with the voltage. Then, at high enough voltage, a second solution arises. This
second solution exists only over a small set of voltages and predicts non-physical currents (steep variations, high intensity),
therefore only the other solution will be studied in this paper. Solutions can only be found until a maximal voltage is reached,
then no admissible solutions satisfy equations (15). This absence of solution likely represents the transition to an unsteady
state or the apparition of a pulsed discharge, which is a well documented phenomena observed in several experimental and
numerical papers [13,14,19].

4.2. Validation of the asymptotic method

The asymptotic method is compared with the steady-state model (8), solved by an upwind first order finite volume
scheme. In order to correctly approximate the steep gradient of the electric field near the electrodes, the mesh is
progressively refined at the vicinity of the electrodes. The size of the cells at the vicinity of the electrodes is less than 1 m
(the Debye length is above 20 m for this setup).
The profiles found for the two models are represented Fig. 2. The density profiles, represented Fig. 2(a), are quite similar.
Due to intense ionization at the vicinity of the anode, the positive ion density increases very quickly and reaches a mean value
due to the ion drift. The electrons, produced by secondary emission and ionization near the cathode, drift over the inter-
electrode space and reach the vicinity of the anode. As the distance to the anode decreases, the electric field becomes more
and more important and the electrons velocity increases. The accumulation of electrons, combined to important ionization,
leads to the rise of the electron density. As expected, the negative ion density is underestimated by the asymptotic model.
Indeed, in the asymptotic model, we choose to consider that electronic attachment has a negligible effect compared to
ionization, at the vicinity of the electrodes. Thus, no negative ions are created at the vicinity of the cathode and they are
only carried at the vicinity of the anode. Despite these differences, the negative ion density level is still relatively well
approximated in the inter-electrode space.
580 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583

10
10

9 Electron density Steady-state model

10 Electron density Asymptotic model
Positive ion density Steady-state model
8 Positive ion density Asymptotic model
10
Negative ion density Steady-state model

Densities (cm-3)
Negative ion density Asymptotic model
7
10

6
10

5
10

4
10

3
10 2 0
1
10 10 10
Position (cm)

(a) Number density profiles of the charged species.

7
x 10
2 14000
Electric field - Steady-state model Force -Steady-state model
Electric field - Asymptotic model Force - Asymptotic model
1.8 Electrostatic field 12000
1.6 Force per unit volume (N.m-3)
10000
1.4
Electric field (V/m)

8000
1.2

1 6000

0.8
4000
0.6
2000
0.4
0
0.2

0 -2000
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
Position (cm) Position (cm)

(b) Profile of the electric field between the electrodes. (c) Profile of the force per unit volume between the electrodes.

Fig. 2. Comparison of different profiles obtained for the asymptotic model (dashed line) and the steady-state model (full line).

The profiles of the electric field and of the force per unit volume, represented on Fig. 2(b) and (c) respectively, are almost
identical. Despite the difference on the negative ion density, the same distortion of the electrostatic field is observed for both
models and the forces per unit volume calculated are very close. In fact, the space charge is mostly driven by the positive
ions, generally in much larger number than electrons and negative ions (see [11]). The positive ion density being correctly
represented by the asymptotic model, so are the electric field and the force per unit volume. Indeed, the relative difference
observed between the two models is close to 102 .
The linear currents found with the two models are also very similar. The asymptotic model predicts a current intensity
of 0.576 mA m1 , whereas the steady-state model predicts a current intensity of 0.587 mA m1 .

4.3. Comparison with experiment

In [18], Brard et al. investigated experimentally the discharge generated by a setup of close to the one studied in this
section. They measured the current intensity and the velocity of the ionic wind for various gap distances between the
electrodes, wire radius and voltage. In order to compare our results with the experiments of Brard et al., an estimation of
ionic wind velocity needs to be estimated. An accurate estimation of the velocity would require to solve the NavierStokes
equations in two dimension and would have an important computational costs. For that reason, we choose instead to
estimate the velocity of the ionic wind with the Euler equations:
uE
 
+ (Eu.) uE =
E P + FE , (19a)
t
.(Eu) = 0, (19b)
where is the density of the air, u the velocity of the flow, P the pressure and F the force per unit of volume induced by the
discharge. Here, we only aim to obtain a rough estimation of the ionic wind velocity, therefore we make some assumptions:
 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583 581

3.5 700
Experiment
Asymptotic model
3 600

2.5 500

Current (A.m-1)
Velocity (m.s1)

2 400

1.5 300

1 200

0.5 100
Experiment
Asymptotic model
0 0
9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13
Voltage (kV) Voltage (kV)

(a) Velocity versus voltage. (b) Current versus voltage.

Fig. 3. Velocity of the ionic wind and linear current versus voltage for the experiment of Brard et al. [18] and for the asymptotic model.

the gradient of pressure is neglected; the velocity is only calculated in one dimension, over the inter-electrode axis, and
the influence of the electrodes on the flow is neglected. Such assumptions suppose that the fluid is compressible, thus the
velocity calculated will be overestimated. Finally, at steady state, the velocity of the ionic wind is given by the following
formula:
sZ
x
2F
u(x) = dx. (20)
ra
The velocity and the current intensity, calculated with the asymptotic model or measured by Brard et al., are represented
Fig. 3 for various voltages. As expected, the velocity, represented Fig. 3(a), is overestimated by our model and as the voltage
increases, the difference with experiment becomes more and more important, however the order of magnitude is still
correct. The current intensity versus voltage, represented on Fig. 3(b), shows good agreement with experiment.

5. Parametric study of the discharge

Thanks to the analytic nature of solutions, the asymptotic method has a low computational cost and can be used to quickly
perform parametric studies of a discharge. An example of such a study is presented in this section: the power consumed
by the actuator Pelec , the velocity of the ionic wind at the cathode uc and the efficiency of the device eff are calculated for
various anode radii and voltages. Other parameters of the setup are taken as in Section 4.

5.1. Definition of the efficiency

The power consumed by the actuator Pelec is defined by:

Pelec = 0 I0 , (21)
where 0 is the voltage applied to the anode (V) (the cathode is linked to the ground) and I0 the linear current (A m 1
). The
efficiency of the actuator is defined by:
Pmec
eff = , (22)
Pelec
where Pmec the power transmitted by the actuator to the flow. The velocity at the cathode uc is obtained with the model
described in Section 4.3. Following [1] and supposing that, at the cathode, the velocity uc is applied over a plasma thickness
Sc = S (ra + d), we have:
1
Pmec = L Sc u3c . (23)
2

5.2. Parametric study

The discharge is simulated with the asymptotic model for various anode radii and voltages. The anode radius varies from
1 m to 0.2 mm and an applied voltage varies from 1 to 25 kV.
Fig. 4 represents the power, the velocity and the efficiency versus the anode radius and the voltage. As expected, the
power and the velocity, represented on Fig. 4(a) and (b) respectively, increase as the anode radius decreases and the applied
voltage increases. The power increases more and more quickly as the applied voltage increases whereas the mean force
582 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583

Power (W)
Velocity (m.s-1)
0.02 0.02
20
0.018 0.018
18
10
0.016 16 0.016

0.014 14 0.014
8
Anode radius (cm)

Anode radius (cm)

0.012 12 0.012
no solution

0.01 no solution 10 0.01 6

no solution

0.008 8 no solution
0.008
6 4
0.006 0.006
4
0.004 0.004
2
2
0.002 0.002
0
0
5 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25
Voltage (kV) Voltage (kV)

(a) Power consumed by the actuator. (b) Velocity of the ionic wind at the cathode.

Efficiency (%)
0.02
1.5
0.018

0.016

0.014
Anode radius (cm)

1
0.012
no solution
0.01 no solution

0.008

0.006 0.5

0.004

0.002

0
5 10 15 20 25
Voltage (kV)

(c) Efficiency of the actuator.

Fig. 4. Parametric study of the discharge: power consumed by the actuator, velocity of the ionic wind at the cathode and efficiency of the device versus
anode radius and applied voltage (Fig. (a), (b) and (c) respectively).

Table 1
Value of the power, of the velocity and of the efficiency for various anode radii and voltages.
ra (mm) 0 (kV) Pelec (W) uc (m s1 ) eff (%)
11 0.48 2.58 0.37
0.1 13 1.49 4.175 0.52
15 3.1 5.59 0.60
11 1.16 4.19 0.68
0.5 13 2.40 5.53 0.75
15 4.26 6.87 0.81
11 1.80 5.72 1.11
0.01 13 3.26 7.08 1.16
15 5.39 8.46 1.20

and the velocity of the ionic wind variations are smoother. Globally, we observe a better efficiency of the device for low
anode radius. Indeed, the smaller the anode radius is, the lower the voltage require to obtain a given velocity and the power
consumed by the actuator are.
The values obtained for small variations of anode radius and voltage are presented in Table 1. The reference setup is the
one studied in Section 4 (0.1 mm and 13 kV). The asymptotic model predicts that a similar velocity can be obtained with
an anode of half the radius of the reference setup and a voltage of 11 kV. For that setup, the power consumed is lower, thus
the efficiency is increased from 0.52 % to 0.68 %. At identical voltage, higher velocity of the ionic wind and higher efficiency
are both obtained for lower anode radii, however, the power also increases significantly. One must find the right balance
between power consumption and maximal velocity, thus choose wisely the anode radius and the applied voltage.
 P. Seimandi et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 50 (2009) 574583 583

6. Conclusion

In this paper, we have shown the possibility to model steady wire-to-wire corona discharges with an asymptotic model
derived from a quasi-2D model. The discharge is divided into two ionization layers at the vicinity of each electrodes and one
ion-drift region over the inter-electrode gap. For each region, only the significant terms of the kinetic are taken into account
and analytical expressions of the electric field and flux are obtained. The results given by the asymptotic model are very
close to those obtained with the original model and are in good agreement with experiments.
The main advantages of the asymptotic method is its low computational costs and its capacity to give quasi-analytical
solutions, making it useful for parametric studies of the discharge. This model could be adapted for other types of setups,
such as point-to-plane discharge or multi-wire-to-wire discharge, however it has some limitations. It only applies to steady
discharges and does not take into account the presence of dielectric. Moreover, a corona discharge is a multi-dimensional
phenomena and requires at least bi-dimensional simulations.
Different solutions to overcome these limitations are currently under investigation. Although taking into account the
dielectric will require major changes in the model, the formalism of the method can easily be extended to build an unsteady
bi-dimensional model, using asymptotic models for the ionization layers and a classical evolution scheme for the inter-
electrode gap. Such a model would allow describing with analytical solutions the zone of intense electric field, where the
most restrictive CFL are found. This should lead to a significant reduction of the computational cost, allowing complex
simulations over long time scales.

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