ANEMONE: A framework for three-dimensional simulations of solid-state electroaerodynamic propulsion systems

Solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion systems are devices that utilize atmospheric pressure corona discharge and have been actively researched in recent years as a means of achieving silent drones. However, these systems contain multiple, widely disparate time and spatial scales. Therefore, the governing equations of the systems, a three-component plasma fluid model that considers the presence of electrons, positive ions, and negative ions, constitute a stiff non-linear system of partial differential equations, challenging to solve. Here, we have developed an ANEMONE simulator capable of numerically estimating the corona inception voltage and energy conversion efficiency in three-dimensional solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion systems. Specifically, on the basis of the governing equations, we adopted the method of characteristics and the perturbation method to obtain the sub-problems. Furthermore, we have successfully obtained the integral equations, making the sub-problems easier to solve. Finally, we validated the prediction results based on the theoretical results in a previous study. Remarkably, ANEMONE is the first simulator in the world which predicted the two representative performance (i.e., the corona inception voltage and energy conversion efficiency) of fully three-dimensional propulsion systems.

固态电气动推进系统（solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion systems）是一类利用大气压电晕放电（corona discharge）的装置，近年来作为实现静音无人机的技术路径受到了广泛研究。然而，此类系统存在跨度极大的多时空尺度特性。描述该系统的控制方程——即考虑电子、正离子与负离子存在的三组分等离子体流体模型——构成了一组刚性非线性偏微分方程组，求解难度极高。本研究开发了ANEMONE模拟器，可对三维固态电气动推进系统的电晕起始电压（corona inception voltage）与能量转换效率（energy conversion efficiency）进行数值预估。具体而言，研究团队基于控制方程，采用特征线法（method of characteristics）与摄动法（perturbation method）推导得到子问题，并进一步通过积分方程（integral equations）简化了子问题的求解流程。最终，研究团队通过对标既往研究的理论结果，验证了该模拟器的预测准确性。值得注意的是，ANEMONE是全球首款可对全三维推进系统的两项代表性性能指标（即电晕起始电压与能量转换效率）进行精准预测的模拟器。