Numerical prediction of transient electrohydrodynamic instabilities under an alternating current electric field and unipolar injection

In this paper, a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of dielectric fluid flow subjected to unipolar injection under an alternating current (AC) electric field is carried out. The effect of frequency f of pulsed direct current (PDC) and AC on the transient evolution of electroconvection and their subcritical bifurcations are investigated in details. Electroconvection under PDC or AC tends to exhibit oscillating flow due to the periodic boundary condition of charge density and potential compared to the direct current (DC) case. The results demonstrate that under the PDC field, the linear criterion T(c) decreases with increasing frequency, while the nonlinear stability criterion T(f) is hardly affected. Under the AC field, a critical frequency f(c) = 0.0316 is found, which separates electroconvection into two typical flow regimes—periodic flow regime (f < f(c)) and inhibited flow regime (f ≥ f(c))—depending on whether free charges can reach the collector electrode before electric field inversion. AC-electrohydrodynamics (EHD) systems promote various flow patterns with relatively lower voltage regimes than DC-EHD systems. These mechanisms of electroconvection under the PDC/AC field offer unique possibilities for fluid flow control in biological EHD-driven flow and portable EHD applications.