Flow analysis for lateral synthetic jets to remove contaminants from the outer surface of an automobile camera module

A test facility was constructed to investigate the flow characteristics of lateral synthetic jets generated by an actuator composed of a cavity, an orifice and a vibrating piezoelectric disc. Subsequently, 3D unsteady numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the formation of the synthetic jets and their dependence on the height of the orifice exit from the outer surface of the cavity. The time-averaged axial velocity was measured and used to validate the numerical results, and the maximum velocity reached approximately 8 m/s. In this work, it was found that the interaction of the vortex tube generated at the edge of the orifice exit and the outer surface of the cavity has a significant impact on the axial velocity distribution and characteristics of the lateral synthetic jets. Based on the experimental data and the numerical results, an attempt has been made to understand the formation of the synthetic jets and their interaction with the outer surface.