Simulation of Synthetic Jets in Quiescent Air Using Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-stokes Equations

We report research experience in applying an Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) solver for the prediction of time-dependent flows in the presence of an active flow control device. The configuration under consideration is a synthetic jet created by a single diaphragm piezoelectric actuator in quiescent air. Time-averaged and instantaneous data for this case were obtained at Langley Research Center, using multiple measurement techniques. Computational results for this case using one-equation Spalart-Allmaras and two-equation Menter’s turbulence models are presented here along with comparisons with the experimental data. The effect of grid refinement, preconditioning and time-step variation are also examined.