Experimental Design and Analysis of Bimorphs as Synthetic Jet Diaphragms

Abstract

Synthetic jet actuators are promising Active Flow Control (AFC) devices which could lead to saving millions of dollars in fuel consumption each year. The Bimorph piezoelectric actuators are an attractive alternative to other type of actuators as active diaphragms and are the focus of this work. Among the properties of a Bimorph actuator, a number of geometrical and physical external factors may have an effect on its performance as a synthetic jet actuator. Using statistical tools some of the physical and geometrical factors are evaluated as independent variables that may have an effect on the synthetic jet peak velocity, the dependent variable. Among the factors studied are the geometry of the synthetic jet cavity, the driving signal used to operate the active diaphragm, and the effect of a pressure gradient on the device. Among the six factors considered, the driving signal was found to have the highest effect on the peak jet velocity, and the factor of frequency proved to have a smaller effect. The cavity geometrical parameters were also relevant, a smaller orifice and a smaller cavity produce higher peak jet velocities. An adverse pressure gradient was also found to have a significant effect on peak jet velocity, diminishing its magnitude with increasing pressure.