Development and Application of Energetic Actuators for Shear and Vortex Dominated Flow Control

Abstract

Active supersonic flow control has been a significant challenge due to the high momentum requirements to produce effective control. It was to this end that Johns Hopkins University developed the SparkJet Actuator (SJA) in collaboration with Florida State University under AFSOR sponsorship. This unsteady, dynamic actuator was tested on the benchtop over various quiescent conditions. The promising results led to a benchmark achievement of supersonic wind tunnel testing over several operating conditions. The SparkJet actuator is a zero net mass flux (ZNMF) device that generates synthetic jets through the use of an electrical discharge. Electrodes inside of a cavity connected to a capacitor bank are discharged at fixed frequencies. The high temperature from the electrical discharge increases the pressure inside of the cavity, and an orifice array located on the cavity allows the air to escape thus creating the jets used for flow control. A 1-D numerical model was developed at the Johns Hopkins University to predict the output of the actuator in terms of cavity volume, energy deposition, number of orifices and orifice diameters.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 06, 2014
Accession Number
ADA598402

Entities

People

  • Farrukh S. Alvi

Organizations

  • Florida State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Frequency
  • Hypervelocity Flow
  • Light Sources
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Reliability
  • Repetition Rate
  • Shock Waves
  • Supersonic Wind Tunnels
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Robotics and Automation.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow