Experimental and numerical investigation of electrohydrodynamic flow in a point-to-ring corona discharge

An electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow in a point-to-ring corona configuration is investigated experimentally and via a multiphysics computational model. The model couples the ion transport equation and the Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) to solve for the spatiotemporal distribution of electric field, flow field, and charge density. The numerical simulation results are validated against experimental measurements of the cathode voltage, ion concentration, and velocity profiles. The maximum flow velocity is at the centerline, and it decays rapidly with radial distance due to the viscous and electric forces acting on the partially ionized gas. To understand this coupling, a nondimensional parameter, X, is formulated as the ratio of the local electric force to the inertial term in the NSE. In the region of X >= 1, the electric force dominates the flow dynamics, while in the X << 1 region, the balance of viscous and inertial terms yields traditional pipe flow characteristics. This approach expands on the analytical model of Guan et al. by adding a description of the developing flow region. The approach allows the model to be used for the entire EHD domain, providing insights into the near-field flow in the corona region.