Numerical study of synthetic jet actuator effects in boundary layers

Abstract

This work has as a fundamental objective the numerical study of the effects of synthetic jet actuators on the flow of the boundary layer developed on a flat plate and on a hypothetical airfoil. The aim is to obtain computational data to indicate how these effects may be used as a means of flow control, describing the dynamics of the synthetic jet in the presence of external flow. The present paper uses a spatial Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) to solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, written in vorticity-velocity formulation. The spatial derivatives are discretized with a sixth order compact finite difference scheme. The Poisson equation for the normal velocity component is solved by an iterative Line Successive Over Relaxation Method and uses a multigrid Full Approximation Scheme to accelerate the convergence. The results of simulations with different values of frequency, amplitude and slot length were analyzed through a temporal Fourier analysis. Through this analysis the decision as to which are the better parameters to delay the separation of the boundary layer is examined. Copyright © 2007 by ABCM.