Numerical and experimental analysis of turbulent boundary layer control with piezo-ceramic actuator

Abstract

The effects of smart-material-based active surface perturbation (i.e. piezo-ceramic actuators) on wall shear stress and noise metric have been investigated by simulations and wind tunnel experiments. A periodic vibration through the application of piezo-ceramic actuators is imposed on the surface of a plate, and the vibration position is located on the upper part of the leading edge of the plate. Both the control results from simulations and experiments are close to each other, when the control parameters are the same. The simulations and wind tunnel experiments show that downstream skin-friction drag and noise metric can be reduced with the active control, and the reductions strongly depend on control parameters. Comparing with the near wall flow structures, the turbulent kinetic energy and characteristic turbulence length scale in the turbulent boundary layer can be controlled with the piezo-ceramic actuator.