Two-Dimensional Numerical Study of the Pulsed Co-Flow Jet

Two-dimensional flow of the pulsed co-flow jet (CFJ) and the influence of the pulsed parameters on the lift and power consumption are investigated numerically. Firstly, the jet channel of traditional CFJ airfoil is improved. The stall margin is increased by 3° compared with the corresponding traditional CFJ airfoil, and the lift is increased, while the drag is reduced significantly. Then, the influence of the pulsed parameters, such as the pulse waveform, including sinusoidal and rectangular waves, the duty cycle, and the pulse frequency on the lift and power consumption are presented and analyzed in detail. It is concluded that, compared with the steady CFJ, the pulsed CFJ possesses much better ability in suppressing separation and can improve the lift characteristics significantly with limited cost of power consumption. For example, at an angle of attack of 20° flow separation occurs severely, when the steady CFJ is adopted; however, the airflow becomes fully attached on the upper airfoil, when the rectangular pulsed CFJ is employed. As a result, the lift corresponding to the rectangular wave is higher than that of the sinusoidal wave. The results also indicate that the lower duty cycle and pulse frequency can lead to the higher lift but with more power consumption.