Experiments and simulations on the aerodynamic behavior of an ionic wind propulsion system for aircraft

The present early-stage work analyzes an ionic wind propulsion system for, e.g., aircraft to be used in the agricultural sector, which is free of pollutant and noise emissions and has no moving parts, thus offering increased efficiency and energy savings. The generated thrust is due to an ionic wind produced by a corona discharge in a strong electric field. The electrical current-voltage characteristic of the corona discharge of the investigated propulsion system were measured in a wind tunnel for different inflow velocities. Furthermore, to gain insight into the electro-hydrodynamics, numerical simulations were performed. The simulated current-voltage characteristic is in good agreement with the experiments. Additionally, it is shown that the ionic wind effectively compensates the drag force of the aerodynamic system to a state where a net thrust arises.