Date of Award

Spring 4-2014

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Yechiel J. Crispin

First Committee Member

R.R. Mankbadi

Second Committee Member

Dongeun Seo

Abstract

The primary goal of this thesis is to assess the effect of synthetic jets on flow separation. CFD simulation is conducted for laminar flow over a flat plate using the commercial software ANSYS FLUENT. The oscillating zero mass jet flow is simulated by imposing a harmonically varying boundary condition on the wall surface.

In this work, the effect of synthetic jets for different angles of attack and different frequencies ranging from 200 Hz to 800 Hz was assessed. The application of the synthetic jet actuators is based in their ability to energize the boundary layer, thereby providing significant increase in the lift coefficient.

The performed numerical simulation investigates the flow at Re = 2×10^6. The oscillatory injection takes place at one fourth the length of the chord from the leading edge. Streamline fields and the pressure contours obtained for different angles of attack are compared with published data. An increase in the lift coefficient can also be observed due to the pulsating jet flow.

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