A comparison of circular and slotted synthetic jets for flow control in a twin air-intake

Abstract

The performance of an aircraft engine depends on air flow quality at the engine face / the exit of the air-intake also known as aerodynamic inlet plane (AIP). A single-engine aircraft has complex Y-shaped twin air-intake which causes severe flow separation, distortion and flow non-uniformity at the AIP. The present study compares the efficacy of slotted synthetic jet and a row of four circular synthetic jets attached to inner faces of a twin air-intake to improve aerodynamic performance at the AIP. The results are obtained using computational fluid dynamics. The velocity and vorticity plots show that lateral spread of the circular jets is limited as compared to the slotted jet. The circular jets are found to be weak as compared to slotted jet to prevent separation of main flow occurring in the twin air-intake. The various aerodynamic performance parameters, such as static pressure recovery coefficient, total pressure loss coefficient, distortion coefficient and secondary flow uniformity are compared for both the cases, exhibiting marked improvement in all these parameters. The study demonstrates that the slotted synthetic jets is a better option for controlling flow in twin air-intake as compared to a row of circular synthetic jets.