Plasma synthetic jet actuators for active flow control

In the last few decades, active flow control (AFC) technology has been developed to minimize the aerodynamic drag of transportation vehicles and maximize the propulsion efficiency of thermodynamic engines. The key of this technology is the actuators. Among all the actuators that have been proposed (i.e. fluidic, moving object, or plasma-based), plasma synthetic jet actuators (PSJAs) exhibit the unique capability of producing high velocity pulsed jets at high-frequency, thus promising to be applied in high-Reynolds number practical flows (e.g. aircraft wings, inlets, helicopter blades). The main objective of this thesis is to provide a deep understanding of the operation characteristics and flow control mechanisms of PSJAs, by virtue of advanced flow diagnostics and simplified theoretical analysis.