Control of Compressible Flows Using Cavities

Using the existing body of data on cavity flows it is demonstrated that specific rectangular cavity configurations emulate synthetic jet behavior and act to alter transverse flow mixing characteristics. Effective control of compressible flows can possibly be maintained by the use of shallow cavities aligned with the mainstream direction individually, or in spanwise arrays. Important benefits of such cavity flow configurations include passive operation, no moving parts, no protuberances, thereby contributing to reducing drag and heating penalties common in supersonic flows.