Modeling and Parametric Study of a Plasma Synthetic Jet for Flow Control

In the past years, the plasma synthetic jet actuator has been proven as promising for aeronautical applications of aerodynamic flow control. In this paper, the plasma synthetic jet actuator's operation is numerically modeled. Results of this simplified coupled numerical approach are presented, along with parametric studies that have been performed concerning geometrical and operational criteria, providing insights of its performance. The results of its pulsed mode have been coupled in a computational fluid dynamics solver via source terms, and basic simulations over a flat plate illustrate the main expected effect of the actuator for aerodynamic flow control: the vortices' generation.