An adjustable synthetic jet by a novel PZT-driven actuator with a slide block

Abstract

Synthetic jets have been identified and utilized widely in flow control applications. The synthetic jets are usually created by a traditional PZT-driven actuator, which consists of a small cylindrical cavity that has an emitting orifice and a PZT-diaphragm or two PZTdiaphragms. A novel synthetic jet actuator is composed of two emitting slots, two sealed cavity bounded on one end by a single PZT diaphragm, and a slide block. The flow fields of the novel synthetic jet actuator in the quiescent air and the cross-flow conditions were simulated. The results show the slide block of the novel synthetic jet actuator has an important regulating function and a unique adjustable synthetic jet can be generated with slight modifications of the slide block. The adjustable synthetic jet may potentially replace the traditional synthetic jets in various applications, and also extend the applications of the synthetic jet to more flow control systems that can't be implemented by the traditional synthetic jets.