Flow Pattern and Switching Mechanism in a Wall Attachment Type Fluid Amplifier

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been performed to determine the steady-state pattern and the switching mechanism of the airflow in a wall attachment type fluid amplifier. With the experimental results, it is shown that the jet flow is considerably affected by the splitter distance and the step height of the device, and switching action of the flow caused by a step control jet, i.e. the switching time and the critical velocity range of control jet, is determined. By using some simple assumptions, approximate calculation have been carried out to obtain the relations between the switching time and the step control jet flow, and are compared with the experimental results.