Patent ID: 8038102

Claim:
A method to manipulate shedding of flow field vortices from an external aerodynamic surface of an aircraft, comprising: placing at least one array of synthetic pulsators on and upstream from a majority of airflow over the external aerodynamic surface, wherein each of the synthetic pulsators has an orifice for ejecting jet pulses through the orifice, wherein each of the synthetic pulsators is inclined in an aft direction at an acute angle relative to the aerodynamic surface and also at an acute azimuth angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the aircraft such that each of the synthetic pulsators is inclined laterally outward from the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and each of the pulsators being a no net mass flow device; and injecting jet pulses through the orifices of the synthetic pulsators in a downstream direction and at the said azimuth, angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, thereby inducing secondary flow vortices that rotate generally parallel to the aerodynamic surface within a boundary layer of the air flow to manipulate the shedding of the flow field vortices from the external aerodynamic surface.