Flow Separation Control on NACA0015 Airfoil Using Synchronized Jet Actuator

In this study, a novel fluidic jet actuator is designed to control flow separation on a NACA0015 airfoil at various angles of attack. The U-shaped jet actuator has two rectangular slots implemented near the leading edge of the airfoil. It is driven by a piston mechanism and operates at three excitation frequencies. Depending on the motion of the mechanism, a synchronized jet flow is generated by blowing and suction at the dual exits of the actuator slots. The experimental studies are carried out in a subsonic wind tunnel. The unsteady 2D Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations are performed by Detached Eddy Simulation with the SST k-ω turbulence model where measured jet velocities at the exits of the actuator slots are imposed as boundary conditions to mimic motion of the piston. The results at the on-mode and off-mode of the actuator are evaluated in terms of surface pressure coefficient distributions on the airfoil and averaged aerodynamic force coefficients. At low angles of attack, there is an adequate match between numerical and experimental results for the base flow without any control. At higher angles of attack, flow separation becomes considerably dominant and stall prevention by active flow control is detected especially at high excitation frequencies‎.