A dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator (DBDPA) was installed at the test section of a small calorimetric wind tunnel to study the thermal effects of dielectric barrier discharge plasma where the actuator was actuated by a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma power source. The discharge power and the thermal power of the actuations were calculated by Lissajous figure method and the calorimetric principle

respectively

while their characteristics were studied. The following conclusions could be drawn: (1) the discharge power

thermal power and thermal efficiency of the dielectric barrier discharge plasma increased with the peak-peak discharge voltage and the discharge frequency; (2) both the power and thermal power of the actuator were power functions of the peak-peak discharge voltage and the discharge frequency

namely

the discharge power was proportional to the peak-peak discharge voltage to the power 1.75

and to the discharge frequency to the power 1

while the thermal power is proportional to the peak-peak discharge voltage to the power 5.0 and to the discharge frequency to the power 1.5; (3) to increase the thermal efficiency and the proportion of gas heating power in the total thermal power

it is better to give priority to increase the peak-peak discharge voltage instead of the discharge frequency.