Aerogel and ferroelectric dielectric materials for plasma actuators

This paper presents performance evaluation of two thick materials with extreme permittivity as dielectric barrier discharge actuators. Specifically, the use of silica aerogels and ferroelectrics is investigated. Due to high polarizability of the ferroelectric material the supplied power manifests itself primarily as heat generation with no measurable thrust. The silica aerogel, however, has a significant impact on thrust saturation as compared with other dielectrics reported to date. Specifically, the silica aerogel is found to have an order of magnitude better thrust to actuator weight ratio than acrylic and twice than that of Kapton with no power penalty, making it potentially useful for small vehicle applications.