Extra plates raised the force produced by a laboratory ionic-wind thruster, which moves air electrically without a rotating propeller. At the tested voltage, the extended design delivered more thrust but consumed more power and produced less thrust per unit of power. This single peer-reviewed experiment concerns a small device in still indoor air, with flight and scale-up performance untested.
The most extended configuration of a small ionic-wind thruster produced 68.70 millinewtons at 22 kilovolts, compared with 50.23 millinewtons from the baseline device. That was a 36.77 per cent increase under the tested conditions. A simpler addition of inclined side plates reached 64.09 millinewtons. The single peer-reviewed experiment compared these arrangements in the same laboratory setup, repeating measurements ten times for each condition.[1]
Ionic wind transfers momentum from electrically charged particles to neutral air molecules, creating airflow without a rotating propeller. The auxiliary structures were intended to guide that flow and limit sideways spreading. Plate angle, spacing and downstream extensions affected the measured force. At about 22 kilovolts, power consumption rose from roughly 17 watts in the baseline to close to 30 watts with the extended structure.[1]
Over that comparison, the baseline provided approximately 2.9 newtons per kilowatt; the extended design provided about 2.3. The gain therefore concerned absolute force alongside higher electricity demand. Additional structures increased assembly mass as well. Experiments used still indoor air and a sensitive balance to derive force from weight changes when the discharge switched on and off. Performance in flight, other environments and larger devices remains untested.[1]
