Date of Award

Summer 6-2015

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Vladimir V. Golubev

First Committee Member

R.R. Mankbadi

Second Committee Member

Yechiel J. Crispin

Abstract

The main idea of this project is to develop a prototype SJA - Synthetic Jet Actuator to embed into a small UAV with modified Glauert wing cross-section for Active Flow Control. Apart from lift enhancement, drag reduction, or separation control, etc; LCO suppression might be possible by modifying the boundary layer through the use of these actuators. For initial investigation, a wing section with span of 12.4 cm and chord of 14 cm was fabricated and tests were conducted in the subsonic wind tunnel at the free stream velocities of 5 and 10 m / s. From these experiments, lift curves for two different cases (with and without the actuator) were compared.

Two models of actuators, one with circular orifice and the other with rectangular slot, were developed using Gallas LEM tool. Effect of orifice shapes on the performance of the actuator is also investigated. Numerical analysis of 3D model was done in Ansys Fluent with k-E turbulence model. Hot Wire Anemometer experiments were conducted to obtain frequency response plots to be validated with the similar plots obtained from the LEM tool. Due to the time consuming nature of CFD simulations, high accuracy reduced order models play a prominent role in quickly understanding the performance parameters that affect the jet. Further research is recommended for building or improving the current mathematical model and numerical tool to allow more sophisticated design configurations and optimization procedures.

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