Synthetic jets are fluid flows which are generated from periodically oscillating fluid. In spite of zero time-mean flux at the actuator, a non-zero time-mean jet flow can be generated (synthesized) from a train of individual fluid “puffs”. These flows have many perspective applications such as active control of flowfields and thermal fields (external and internal aerodynamics, cooling, mixing, etc.). The basic advantage is the simplicity – neither fluid source (compressor, blower, pump) nor supply piping is required. Therefore, the synthetic jet has been subject of intensive investigations recently.

The topic has been investigated at the Institute of Thermomechanics since 2001. For example, the following particular tasks have been solved: (1) Impinging synthetic jet and heat transfer enhancement, (2) newly proposed principle: "hybrid synthetic jet", (3) formation criterion of synthetic jets and identification of flow regimes, and (4) geometry optimization.