Separation Control of Axial Compressor Cascade by Fluidic-Based Excitations

Flow separation control was investigated on a compressor cascade using three types of fluidic-based excitations: steady suction, steady blowing, and synthetic jet. By solving unsteady Reynolds–averaged Navier–Stokes equations, the effect of excitation parameters (amplitude, angle, and location) on performance was addressed. The results show that the separated flow can be controlled by the fluidic-based actuators effectively and the time-averaged performance of the flow field can be improved remarkably. Generally, the improvement can be enhanced when the amplitude of excitation is increased. The optimal direction varies with each type of excitations and is related to physical mechanisms underlying the separation control. For two types of steady excitations, the most effective jet location is at a distance upstream of the time-averaged separation point and the synthetic jet is just at the separation point.