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Ohnishi-Sato (Shintaro) Lab
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The lab controls airflow with plasma and works on space engineering.
AboutAbout the lab
Controlling airflow with plasma.
The Ohnishi-Sato Lab studies the fluid dynamic properties of high-temperature gases and plasmas, and their applications.
The lab pursues both computational research and experiments on the physical phenomena involved in high-speed flows of high-temperature gases and plasmas, and on space engineering technologies that use them.
Using plasma actuators, thin devices made only of electrodes and a dielectric, the lab is advancing research toward the practical use of airflow control technology.
It is developing a model that computes the whole process from the occurrence of discharge to the generation of ionic wind, aiming to clarify the phenomena that are key to improving performance.
Key terms
- Plasma actuator
- A thin airflow control device made only of electrodes and a dielectric. Discharge produces ionic wind
- Ionic wind
- Airflow produced by an electrical discharge in air when a high voltage is applied to electrodes
- Flow separation
- A phenomenon in which air flowing along a wing surface detaches from it. Lift decreases and drag increases
NewsLab news
Paper on a low-dimensional model of flow around a two-dimensional circular cylinder published in Journal of Fluids Engineering
Paper on triadic interactions underlying mode A in the cylinder wake published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
A student received the Young Researcher Excellent Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting 2025 of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics
Paper on a low-dimensional model of controlled flow around a circular cylinder published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
A student received the Excellent Presentation Award (Student Award) at the Fluid Dynamics Conference
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the physical phenomena involved in high-speed flows of high-temperature gases and plasmas, and space engineering technologies that make use of them. As one example, it works on airflow control devices that use plasma, through both numerical simulation and experiments.
*Illustrative imageControlling flow with plasma
A plasma actuator is a thin device about 0.1 mm thick, made only of electrodes and a dielectric, with no moving parts. When a high voltage is applied, the discharge produces an ionic wind that reattaches separated flow to the wing, generating lift and reducing drag.
*Illustrative imageComputing from discharge to wind
Ionic wind strong enough to be mounted on a passenger aircraft and reduce drag cannot yet be produced, and a dramatic improvement in performance is needed. The lab is developing a model that can compute the whole process from discharge to ionic wind generation, aiming to clarify the physical phenomena that hold the key to better performance.
*Illustrative imageExperiments toward better performance
Based on findings from simulations, the lab proposes new plasma actuators and carries out demonstration experiments. It also develops driving power supplies and evaluates fluid dynamic characteristics using particle image velocimetry.
*Illustrative imageOperating at low voltage
Current plasma actuators usually need a high voltage of 10 kV or more to generate ionic wind, and high-voltage power supplies are difficult to handle, so devices that run on low voltage are needed. The lab has shown that making the elements smaller and arranging many of them greatly lowers the driving voltage, and aims for operation at around several hundred volts.
MembersFaculty
The Ohnishi-Sato Lab consists of faculty members and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorNaofumi Ohnishi
- Assistant ProfessorShintaro Sato
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Jet Propulsion Laboratory Plasma Flow Research Lab” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Controlling flow with plasma: “Glow discharge regions” Derived file: Chetvorno Original file: Jannis Andrija Schnitzer / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Computing from discharge to wind: “F1-in-schools-cfd-velocity” Syguy / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Experiments toward better performance: “Flow Visualization 4 % Scale F-16XL Scamp DVIDS704669” Glenn Research Center / Public domain (cropped)
- Operating at low voltage: “Offline High Voltage AC Power Supply ( )” Dilshan Jayakody from Maharagama, Sri Lanka / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takahashi Lab): “Nasa--methalox-rocket-engine-test-fiiring” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Biwa Lab): “Flame-tube-resonance-overlay” MikeRun / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shoji Lab): “150 deg water contact angle” Plasmatreat Khoren / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nishizawa-Tottori-Osaki Lab): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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