Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle

The Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle (WEAV) is a heavier

than air flight system developed at the University of Florida, funded
by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.[1][2][3] The WEAV
was invented in 2006 by Dr. Subrata Roy,[4] plasma physicist,
aerospace engineering professor at the University of Florida, and has
been a subject of several patents.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The WEAV employs
no moving parts, and combines the aircraft structure, propulsion,
energy production and storage, and control subsystems into one
integrated system.
The Wingless Electromagnetic Air
Vehicle (WEAV) is a heavier-than-air
flight system which can self-lift,
Contents hover, and fly reliably with no moving
components
Operating mechanism
Novel technologies
Multi-barrier plasma actuators
Serpentine actuators
Micro-scale actuators
Novel materials
Liftoff
See also
References
External links

Operating mechanism
The WEAV uses a multitude of small electrodes covering the whole wetted area of the aircraft, in a multi-
barrier plasma actuator (MBPA) arrangement, an enhancement over dual-electrode dielectric barrier discharge
(DBD) systems using multiple layers of dielectric materials and powered electrodes.[11] These electrodes are
very close to one another so surrounding air can be ionized using RF AC high voltage of a few tens of
kilovolts even at the standard pressure of one atmosphere. The resultant plasma contains ions that are
accelerated by the Coulomb force using electrohydrodynamics (EHD) at low altitude and small velocity. The
surface of the vehicle acts as an electrostatic fluid accelerator pumping surrounding air as ion wind, radially
then downward, so the lower pressure zone on the upper surface and the higher pressure zone underneath the
aircraft produces lift and thrust for propulsion and stability.[1] At a higher altitude and to reach greater speeds, a
magnetic field is also applied to enhance collisions between electrons and heavy species in the plasma and use
the more powerful Lorentz body force to accelerate all charge carriers in the same direction along a radial high
speed jet.[2] A very early version of this documented by Jean-Louis Naudin used wire originally from a hard
disk drive cable (aka 80/40 wire) with alternate HV on each pair and this works but is very inefficient
compared to newer approaches as discussed above.

Novel technologies
To achieve its mission, the WEAV-related research introduced a number of plasma actuator designs. This
section highlights the main technologies.

Multi-barrier plasma actuators

The conventional single dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuator

design is composed of two electrodes separated by a single dielectric
material. Much work has gone into optimizing the design and
performance of the single DBD design,[12] however research work
continues to improve the performance of these actuators. The MBPA Schematic of a tri-layer multi-barrier
design is an extension of the single DBD actuator design which plasma actuator (MBPA) design.
introduces additional dielectric barriers and electrodes, and thus Though a tri-layer MBPA design is
additional design parameters. Research indicates that MBPA designs shown, other configurations are
may achieve higher resultant thrust and improved thrust-to-power possible.
ratios than the single DBD actuator design.[11][13][14] Sample trials of
a bi-layer MBPA design demonstrated an approximately 40% increase
in effectiveness over the conventional single layer design.[2][13]

Serpentine actuators

The WEAV employed serpentine geometry plasma actuators for fully

Comparison of force and
three-dimensional flow control which combine the effects of a linear
effectiveness among various single,
actuator and plasma synthetic jet.[15][16][17] Due to the periodic
bi-layer, and tri-layer MBPA designs.
geometry of the serpentine design, there is pinching and spreading of
the surrounding air along the actuator.[18] Consequently, serpentine
actuators generate both spanwise and streamwise vorticity, resulting in unique flow structures that are not
reproduced by conventional linear geometry plasma actuators.

Micro-scale actuators

Experimental results and numerical simulation demonstrate that by

shrinking the gap between electrodes to micron size,[19][20][21] the
electric force density in the discharge region is increased by at least an
order of magnitude and the power required for plasma discharge is
decreased by an order of magnitude. Consequently, physically smaller
and lighter power supplies can be used with these so-called micro-
scale actuators. Investigations demonstrated that per actuator, induced
Top and cross-sectional schematic
velocities from the micro-scale plasma actuator are comparable to their
of microscale dielectric barrier
standard, macro-scale counterparts, albeit with an order of magnitude
discharge plasma actuator.
less thrust.[2] However, due to the decreased power requirements of
the micro-scale plasma actuators, experiments suggest effective
macroscopic flow control via large arrays of micro-scale plasma
actuators.[22][23]

Novel materials

In addition to experimental plasma actuator designs and geometries, the WEAV investigated the performance
of a large variety of insulating materials for use in the dielectric barrier layer, including flexible materials such
as silicone rubber and ferroelectric modified lead zirconate-titanate (PZT) and silica aerogel.[24]
 Successful dielectric materials investigated
Material Thickness (μm)
Acrylic 500, 1000, 3000
Cirlex 254,2540
PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) ~1000
Silicone rubber (high-purity) 127
Torlon 250
PZT 3000
Silica Aerogel 6000

Liftoff
An early prototype of the WEAV was able to sustain hovering flight a
few millimeters above the ground for approximately 3 minutes.
Prototypes of varying radii were also successfully tested, suggesting
scalability of the design.

See also
Demonstration of successful liftoff of
Plasma actuator WEAV prototype.

Ionocraft
Lightcraft
Magnetohydrodynamic drive

References
1. Greenemeier, Larry (7 July 2008). "The World's First Flying
Saucer: Made Right Here on Earth" (https://www.scientifica Timeline demonstrating the
merican.com/article/worlds-first-flying-saucer/). Scientific accomplishments and progress of
American. the WEAV.
2. Roy, Subrata; Arnold, David; Lin, Jenshan; Schmidt, Tony;
Lind, Rick; et al. (20 December 2011). Air Force Office of
Scientific Research; University of Florida (eds.).
Demonstration of a Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle
(http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a564120.pdf) (PDF)
(Report). Defense Technical Information Center.
ASIN B01IKW9SES (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IKW
9SES). AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2012-0922.
3. Townsend, Allie (1 July 2009). "NASA Jumps at Patent for
Plasma-Powered UFO Technology" (https://www.popularm
echanics.com/space/a3404/4269027/). Polular Mechanics.
4. "Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Florida" (http://www.mae.ufl.edu/people/roy).
 5. US patent 8382029 (https://patentimages.storage.googleap
is.com/0b/a8/52/3c6718c040ad54/US8382029.pdf),
Subrata Roy, "Wingless hovering of micro air vehicle",
issued 2013-02-26, assigned to University of Florida
Research Foundation Inc.
6. US patent 8960595 (https://patentimages.storage.googleap
is.com/25/43/bb/2bdc198ea976a9/US8960595.pdf),
Subrata Roy, "Wingless hovering of micro air vehicle",
issued 2015-02-24, assigned to University of Florida
Research Foundation Inc.
7. Hong Kong Patent No. 1129642B Issued on June 29,
2012.
8. Chinese Patent ZL200780036093.1 Issued on October 19,
2011.
9. European Patent EP 2,046,640 Issued on October 12,
2011.
10. Japanese Patent no. 5,220,742 granted on March 15,
2013.
11. Durscher, Ryan; Roy, Subrata (January 2011). "On Multi-
Barrier Plasma Actuators" (http://ayuba.fr/pdf/durscher201
1.pdf) (PDF). AIAA 2011-958. 49th AIAA Aerospace
Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and
Aerospace Exposition. Orlando, Florida.
doi:10.2514/6.2011-958 (https://doi.org/10.2514%2F6.2011
-958).
12. Corke, Thomas; Enloe, Cynthia; Wilkinson, Stephen (1
January 2010). "Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma
Actuators for Flow Control". Annual Review of Fluid
Mechanics. 42 (1): 505–529.
Bibcode:2010AnRFM..42..505C (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.
edu/abs/2010AnRFM..42..505C). doi:10.1146/annurev-
fluid-121108-145550 (https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev-f
luid-121108-145550).
13. Durscher, Ryan; Roy, Subrata (January 2010). "Novel
Multi-Barrier Plasma Actuators for Increased Thrust". AIAA
2010-965. 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting
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Exposition. Orlando, Florida. doi:10.2514/6.2010-965 (http
s://doi.org/10.2514%2F6.2010-965).
14. Erfani R, Zare-Behtash H, Hale C, Kontis K (19 January
2015). "Development of DBD plasma actuators: The
double encapsulated electrode" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2
Fj.actaastro.2014.12.016). Acta Astronautica. 109: 132–
143. Bibcode:2015AcAau.109..132E (https://ui.adsabs.har
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doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.12.016 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2Fj.actaastro.2014.12.016).
15. Roy S, Wang C (31 December 2008). "Bulk flow
modification with horseshoe and serpentine plasma
actuators" (https://semanticscholar.org/paper/78cf90ee07c
9a6c12d5cc578eacca2e5bd1e1e62). Journal of Physics
D: Applied Physics. 42 (3): 032004. doi:10.1088/0022-
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16. Roth J, Sherman D, Wilkinson S (7 July 2000).
"Electrohydrodynamic Flow Control with a Glow-Discharge
Surface Plasma". AIAA Journal. 38 (7): 1166–1172.
Bibcode:2000AIAAJ..38.1166R (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/2000AIAAJ..38.1166R). doi:10.2514/2.1110 (https://
doi.org/10.2514%2F2.1110).
17. Santhanakrishnan A, Jacob J (19 January 2007). "Flow
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Physics D: Applied Physics. 40 (3): 637–651.
Bibcode:2007JPhD...40..637S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/2007JPhD...40..637S). doi:10.1088/0022-
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40%2F3%2Fs02).
18. Durscher R, Roy S (4 January 2012). "Three-dimensional
flow measurements induced from serpentine plasma
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er/4c91c0b445a706ee13e72bb1b9606c4931073f4c).
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. 45 (3): 035202.
Bibcode:2012JPhD...45c5202D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.
edu/abs/2012JPhD...45c5202D). doi:10.1088/0022-
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7%2F45%2F3%2F035202).
19. Zito J, Durscher R, Soni J, Roy S, Arnold D (8 May 2012).
"Flow and force inducement using micron size dielectric
barrier discharge actuators" (https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.
1063/1.4712068). Applied Physics Letters. 100: 193502.
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068).
20. Wang C, Roy S (10 July 2009). "Microscale plasma
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lar.org/paper/35abf095e58eabc33476228d1fe54909e7da3
7a9). Journal of Applied Physics. 106 (1): 013310–
013310–7. Bibcode:2009JAP...106a3310W (https://ui.adsa
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21. Wang C, Roy S (28 August 2009). "Flow shaping using
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nticscholar.org/paper/be1ae7b5ccdddef42939820389c43a
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22. Pescini E, De Giorgi M, Francioso L, Sciolti A, Ficarella A
(May 2014). "Effect of a micro dielectric barrier discharge
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doi:10.1049/iet-smt.2013.0131 (https://doi.org/10.1049%2F
iet-smt.2013.0131).
23. Aono H, Yamakawa S, Iwamura K, Honami S, Ishikawa H
(17 May 2017). "Straight and curved type micro dielectric
barrier discharge plasma actuators for active flow control".
Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science. 88: 16–23.
doi:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2017.05.005 (https://doi.org/1
0.1016%2Fj.expthermflusci.2017.05.005).
24. Durscher R, Roy S (9 December 2011). "Aerogel and
ferroelectric dielectric materials for plasma actuators" (http
s://semanticscholar.org/paper/cc3674b29f2483e2671217e
049c794702b871784). Journal of Physics D: Applied
Physics. 45 (1): 012001. doi:10.1088/0022-
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7%2F45%2F1%2F012001).

External links
WEAV official site (https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/aprg/research/weav/)

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