Flow Driven Oscillating Vortex Generators for Control of Boundary Layer Dynamics

Active boundary layer control is effective in controlling boundary layer dynamics, but imposes a penalty because of the power and hardware required. In Phase I a family of self-excited Flow Driven Oscillating Vortex Generators (FDOVGs), which oscillate at frequencies where the induced vortical flows have length scales that are of the order of the scale of the aerodynamic surface, and therefore are useful to control boundary layer dyamics, have been demonstrated. The FDOVGs receive power from the mean flow to operate and generate large amplitude oscillations. Deployment can be achieved with no external power by using a flow change to activate the FDOVG, or with external power by changing the geometry or stiffness of the FDOVG.The Phase II effort will provide the aerodynamicist with a new flow control actuator that can be integrated into aerodynamic components. Micro- as well as macro-scale devices with applications on micro air vehicles, unmanned vehicles, jetliners, and over the road vehicles such as tractor-trailer trucks can be developed. The FDOVG is a simple, inexpensive, reliable, and potentially single-part solution to providing effective flow control without significant penalty for a large variety of difficult applications.