Flow control of wingtip vortices through synthetic jets

•Near wake analysis of wingtip vortices features under synthetic jet actuation.•Active flow control tuned to the inherent instability frequencies of the vortices.•Synthetic jet control at high power could promote the Crow instability growth.•The highest actuation frequency offers an intense vortex strength decrease.•Phase-locked analysis reveals a strikingly impact on the vortices’ dynamics.