Numerical Study on the Impact of Synthetic Jets at Flow Separation Points on the Wake of a Square Cylinder

To investigate the application of synthetic jet technology in the control of the wake flow around a square cylinder, a two-dimensional numerical simulation study was conducted using CFD and the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method to simulate the flow field. Synthetic jets were applied near the flow separation points on both sides of the square cylinder to analyze the wake flow characteristics without jets and the effects of synthetic jets on the wake flow structure. The impact of jet frequency and jet velocity on the control effectiveness of synthetic jets was explored from the perspectives of lift and drag coefficients, power spectral density (PSD), total energy of fluctuations, and velocity and vorticity contour maps. The results indicate that synthetic jets effectively modify the wake flow structure of the square cylinder, suppress vortex shedding, and reduce wind loads on the cylinder. An optimal combination of dimensionless parameters exists for achieving the best control performance. Under the G2 condition (momentum coefficient of 0.6), the overall control effect was found to be optimal. Specifically, at an excitation frequency of 1, the lift coefficient was reduced by approximately 79%, and the drag coefficient was reduced by 52%. Additionally, the total energy of the lift fluctuations was at a minimum under this condition.

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