Numerical Study of Impulse Actuation for Stall Control

The response of a stalled flow to a single impulse actuation is examined numerically to investigate the mechanism by which this actuation affects the flow. Delayed detached eddy simulation is used on a stalled NACA 4415 airfoil at an angle of attack of 20 degrees and Reynolds number Re = 570,000. A brief strong jet issues normal to the airfoil surface upstream of the nominal flow separation point of the airfoil, causing the boundary layer temporally reattached. This computation shows the detailed evolution of vortical structures generated by both the baseline flow and the impulse actuation. Initial vortices from the actuation convect downstream, interact with the separated shear layer, and dismantle the layer. After the collapse of the separated shear layer, the separation point moves aft and remains delayed for a much longer period than the actuation time, similar to experimental observation [1]. The jet is simply represented as a Dirichlet velocity boundary condition, which is found to be sufficient to represent the global effects of impulse actuation on the stalled flow.