Flow Control

Abstract

The ability to actively or passively manipulate a flow field to effect a desired change is of immense technological importance. In this article, methods of control to achieve transition delay, separation postponement, lift enhancement, drag reduction, turbulence augmentation, or noise suppression are considered. The treatment is tutorial at times, making the material accessible to the advanced graduate student in the field of fluid mechanics. Emphasis is placed on external boundary-layer flows although applicability of some of the methods reviewed for internal flows will be mentioned. An attempt is made to present a unified view of the means by which different methods of control achieve a variety of end results. Performance penalties associated with a particular method such as cost, complexity, or trade-off will be elaborated.