Ionic Wind Simulation of Wire-Aluminum Foil Electrode Structure Lifter in 2-D Space

The electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-driven lifter is an electrostatic levitation device, which can generate a driving force without any mechanical rotating component. Due to the consistency of its driving condition with the Biefeld–Brown (BB) effect, it is used for ionic air propulsion. Nowadays, various methods have been used to study the thrust generating mechanism of the lifter. However, those methods cannot concentrate on its physical changing procedure. Given this, the finite-element simulation method is used to investigate the ionic wind in a two-dimensional asymmetric electrode system of the lifter model. In this work, the physical process of corona discharge in the electrode system is simulated and analyzed. First, some empirical relationships are used to introduce a mathematical model, including the ionic wind. Second, the model is adjusted for simulation in Comsol. Finally, it can be concluded from the analysis and comparison of the results that the ionic wind’s numerical value can be affected by some structural parameters of the electrode system. Furthermore, the ionic wind’s maximum value is observed on both sides of the grounding electrode, not between the two electrodes, which is not compatible with ionic wind formation. Besides, it can be speculated that positive ions might have a force on the grounding electrode. This work provides a valuable reference to the microphysical phenomenon for the lifter.