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Description
An experimental study on the use of synthetic jet actuators for lift control is conducted. The synthetic jet actuator is placed on the pressure side towards the trailing edge on a NACA 65(2)-415 airfoil representative of the cross section of an Inlet Guide Vane (IGV) in an industrial gas compressor. By redirecting or vectoring the shear layer at the trailing edge, the synthetic jet actuator increases lift and decreases drag on the airfoil without a mechanical device or flap. A compressor map that defines upper and lower bounds on operating velocities and airfoil dimensions, is compared with operating conditions of the low-speed wind tunnel at San Diego State University, to match gas compressor conditions in the wind tunnel. Realistic test conditions can range from Mach=0.12 to Mach= 0.27 and an airfoil chord from c=0.1 m to c=0.3 m. Based on the operating conditions, a final airfoil model is fabricated with a chord of c=0.1m. Several synthetic jet actuator designs are considered. A initial synthetic jet is designed to house a piezoelectric element with a material frequency of 1200 hz in a cavity with a volume of 4.47 cm_, a slot width of 0.25 mm, and a slot depth of 1.5 mm. With these dimensions, the Helmholtz frequency of the design is 1800Hz. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experiments show that the design has a jet with a peak centerline jet velocity of 26 m/s at 750 Hz. A modified slant face synthetic jet is designed so that the cavity fits flush within the NACA airfoil surface. The slanted synthetic jet has a cavity volume of 4.67 cm_, a slot width of 0.25 mm, and a slot depth of 3.45 mm resulting in a Helmholtz frequency of 1170 hz for this design. PIV experiments show that the jet is redirected along the slant face according to the Coanda effect. A final synthetic jet actuator is directly integrated into the trailing edge of an airfoil with a cavity volume of 4.6 cm_, a slot width of 0.2 mm, and a slot depth of 1.6 mm. The Helmholtz frequency is 1450 Hz and matches closely with the piezoelectric element material frequency. The slot is designed so that actuator creates a jet normal to the airfoil surface. A wind tunnel model of the airfoil is 3D-printed with nine actuators integrated along the span of the airfoil. The synthetic jet slots cover 61% of the airfoil's span and the synthetic jet slots are located at a 13% chord upstream of the trailing edge. Tests are performed at multiple free stream velocities ranging from 17 m/s to 54 m/s which is the equivalent of an airfoil Reynolds number of Re=1.510_ to Re=4.510_. The integrated synthetic jet actuator increases lift. The increase is dependent on the freestream velocity, the actuation frequency, and angle of attack. For actuation at 1450 hz, and various freestream velocities, the synthetic jet actuator increases the lift by 2% at _=7° to 7% at _=15°. The synthetic jet increases L/D by 2% at _=7° to 15% at _=15°. Velocity contours obtained through PIV show that the synthetic jet turns the trailing edge shear layer similar to a Gurney flap, which increases lift. The synthetic jet reduces the wake velocity defect through injection of momentum, reducing the drag on the airfoil.
