Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Modified Synthetic Jet Actuator for Active Flow Control

Abstract

This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical investigations on synthetic jet actuators with various arrangements. First, an actuator with one membrane in the cavity is a standard, reference arrangement; and second, one novel modified arrangement has two membranes in the cavity. Authors use constant temperature-anemometry measurements to identify the characteristic frequencies in which the output jet velocity reaches a maximal value, namely, the resonant frequency of the actuator (Helmholtz frequency) and of the membrane (structural resonance). A numerical model of a synthetic jet actuator has been validated using experimental data for the case with one membrane in a cavity. The simulation results confirm the existence of a toroidal vortex at the actuator exit for the frequencies determined in the experiment. Numerical results of a modified actuator with two membranes in the cavity give promising results in the context of separation control by synthetic jet devices, i.e., increase of output velocity and vorticity from the same occupied space is obtained. Numerical simulations show that in the modified actuator with two membranes in the cavity, the jet output velocity and vorticity of a created toroidal vortex at the actuator outlet can be increased by 80%, compared to the case with one membrane. The new geometry of a synthetic jet actuator with perpendicular membranes is to be implemented into the wind tunnel measurements to prove the use of a modified synthetic jet actuator as a device applicable for active flow control.