Flow Separation Control in a Curved Diffuser with Rigid Traveling Wave Wall and Its Mechanism

Traveling wave wall is a useful method to suppress flow separation. However, the interaction between the traveling wave wall and unsteady separation flow is complex, which causes difficulty in discovering the corresponding mechanism. To reveal the mechanism of traveling wave wall control, numerical simulation of a separated curved diffuser using rigid traveling wave wall flow control is performed, which shows some unique characteristics. Then, a nonlinear simplified model is used to explain this phenomenon in flow control in consideration of nonlinear dynamics and order of degree. Flow field data from the numerical simulation are further analyzed using fast Fourier transform analysis, linear stability theory of free shear layers, and the nonlinear simplified model to reveal the control mechanism of traveling wave wall.