Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of the internal flow of a modified Sweeping Jet (SWJ) actuator geometry

Abstract

Sweeping jet (SWJ) actuator is an active flow control (AFC) device used in many applications in fluid mechanics. One of them is to minimize the power consumption in Airplanes and ground vehicles by controlling the turbulence wake generated from the movement of those bodies. The mechanism of those actuators needs to be studied and how to control them to be able to improve their performance when plugging them into any bluff body. In this study the effect of changing the mixing chamber's geometry of the SWJ actuator on the internal flow is seen to understand the external flow. This study is investigated numerically using Reynolds Stress, Stress-BSL and large eddy simulation (LES). At first, a study is conducted using k-w SST turbulence model by generating a baseline case with two different diffuser sizes, then comparing both results with the one obtained for experiments to see which size is more accurate in predicting the flow characteristics. Then, another k-w SST study is done on 4 different geometries to see the effect of changing the coanda surface on the internal flow of the actuator. Later, another study will be done using LES and kw-SST models on baseline sweeping jet case to compare between both models on the prediction of the internal flow.

Date of Award	Oct 2021
Original language	American English