Numerical Modeling of Synthetic Jets with Cross Flow in a Boundary Layer at an Adverse Pressure Gradient

Abstract

This paper reports preliminary results of simulating a synthetic jet interacting with the boundary layer flow in laminar separation. The numerical model development aimed to simulate the physical process in previous experimental investigation. A model for simulating the base flow was developed first and then extended to including the synthetic jet. The computational domain was three-dimensional and covered the exit of the synthetic jet actuator and the separation region. Large-eddy simulation (LES) was employed, and the initial and boundary conditions were defined using or referring to wind tunnel experimental results. The numerical model was verified by comparing the simulation with experimental results. Based on reasonable agreement between the numerical and experimental results, simulations were carried out to investigate the dependency of the synthetic jet’s actuation on the forcing frequency, in a focused range of the lower Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) frequencies.