The delay of turbulent boundary layer separation by oscillatory active control

Abstract

The flow outside a solid wedge that abruptly diverges at an angle of 18° was investigated experimentally. A turbulent boundary layer, which separated at the discontinuity and turned into a mixing layer downstream of it, reattached as a result of harmonic excitation at the apex of the wedge. Preliminary results indicate that this might be an effective way to delay separation of turbulent and laminar boundary layers.