A Numerical Study of Separation Suppression using Fluidic Oscillators

A numerical study of a fluidic oscillator was initiated to better understand its fluid dynamics, coupled with experimental validation. The study aims to increase the understanding of the flows within the fluidic oscillator using high-fidelity, unsteady computations and simultaneously evaluate the sensitivity of the flow to installation and geometric constraints. The characterization of the fluidic oscillator will permit accurate development of a boundary condition for use in larger scale computations. In addition, a curved surface test configuration was designed, defined by a streamline along the suction surface of a VR-12 airfoil at 13°. The design produces regions of mild and strong separation suitable for the evaluation of different fluidic active flow control devices. Computational simulations on this design will be completed, considering a spanwise array of fluidic oscillators to evaluate their ability to suppress separation and will be compared to experimental measurements.