Research on characteristics of dual-frequency coupling electroaerodynamic thruster

Breaking through the corona discharge current limit and improving the ionization and acceleration process are beneficial to improve the performance of the electroaerodynamic thruster. In this paper, a dual-frequency source of DC and NSP (nanosecond pulse) are applied to generate ionic wind. Electrical, optical and thrust characteristics are compared for the electroaerodynamic thruster with and without the NSPD (nanosecond pulse discharge). The experimental results indicate that the thrust characteristics are enhanced under the effect of dual-frequency sources. Moreover, the inception DC voltage to generate ionic wind is much lower.