Effect of DBD plasma excitation on aerodynamic characteristics of the NACA 0012 airfoil

The Martian atmosphere exhibits seasonal fluctuations that result in a reduction in the lift generated by the airfoil of Martian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This paper investigates the effects of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuation parameters (including actuation location, excitation voltage, and frequency) on the aerodynamic performance of NACA0012 airfoil under low-Reynolds-number and high-Mach-number conditions characteristic of Mars using‌ computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results demonstrate that upper-surface DBD actuation significantly enhances airfoil lift, with the optimal actuation position being angle-of-attack dependent: For the 5° angle-of-attack case, trailing-edge actuation (x_p = 0.9c) achieves the maximum lift enhancement of 106%; while for the 15° case, leading-edge actuation (x_p = 0.1c) yields a 44% improvement. Increasing excitation frequency and voltage further amplifies the lift augmentation effect. Mechanism analysis reveals that DBD plasma actuation effectively suppresses airfoil surface flow separation, significantly enlarges the pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces, and alters vorticity distribution within the flow field, thereby enhancing airfoil aerodynamic performance. This research quantitatively validates the efficacy of DBD actuation for airfoil performance enhancement under Martian atmospheric conditions, providing a viable active flow control solution for UAVs operating in the variable Martian environment.