Synthetic Jet Flow Control in a Matched-Index-of-Refraction Flow Facility

Abstract

Abstract : In the last decade, synthetic jets have emerged as one of the leading active flow control technologies for aerodynamic flows. Synthetic jets have high appeal because they are zero-net-mass-flux flows that achieve significant control authority by coupling to the unsteady dynamics of the flow-field. While applications of synthetic jets abound, only a very limited description of the synthetic jet control effect exists. Such a limited description significantly constrains our current ability to optimize the use of these flows in complex flow configurations, and impairs the development of advanced numerical simulations that can accurately predict these flows. The current work intended to address the deficiencies in our ability to describe and understand synthetic jet control of a boundary layer ow, and to provide a description of the flow-field that improved numerical simulations of synthetic flow control. The approach in this study was experimental and involved obtaining highly-resolved velocity field measurements for a synthetic jet interacting with a cross-flow boundary layer under conditions representative of flow control applications. These measurements were to be obtained by examining the synthetic jet cross-flow interaction in a novel matched-index-of-refraction (MIR) ow facility. The measurements were then to be used to develop physical models of the flow-field interaction in the near- and far-field of the interaction.