Study on inner characteristics of plasma synthetic jet actuator and geometric effects

In order to further study the inner characteristics of the plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA) which consists of a cavity, two electrodes and a lid with orifice, a two-dimensional numerical simulation is carried out with SST k-omega turbulence model. The evolutions of the flow parameters inside the cavity with a single pulse, such as pressure, density, temperature and velocity, are analyzed in detail. The oscillation mechanisms of the flow parameters at the orifice of the cavity is also investigated. To study the effects of geometric factors on the performance of the PSJA, five widths and heights of the cavities are considered. The results suggest that the base frequencies are inversely proportional to the width and height of the cavity respectively. The proportional constant is equal to the sound speed. Besides, shortening the width or height of the cavity can obtain a faster peak velocity of the jet. The peak of the jet velocity occurs earlier with a shorter height of the cavity. (C) 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.