Waves in screeching jets

TL;DR

This study combines experimental data and linear stability theory to analyze wave interactions in screeching jets, identifying three key wave structures and their roles in flow dynamics and noise generation.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive linear stability framework that captures all three wave types in screeching jets, including a newly identified downstream-traveling duct-like mode.

Findings

Three distinct wave structures are identified in screeching jets.

The downstream-traveling wave is a duct-like mode similar to high-subsonic jets.

The interaction between Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and shock cells explains wave generation.

Abstract

The interaction between various wavelike structures in screeching jets is considered via both experimental measurements and linear stability theory. Velocity snapshots of screeching jets are used to produce a reduced order model of the screech cycle via proper orthogonal decomposition. Streamwise Fourier filtering is then applied to isolate the negative and positive wavenumber components, which for the waves of interest in this jet correspond to upstream and downstream-travelling waves. A global stability analysis on an experimentally derived base flow is conducted, demonstrating a close match to the results obtained via experiment, indicating that the mechanisms considered here are well represented in a linear framework. In both analyses, three distinct wavelike structures are evident. These three waves are those first shown by Tam & Hu (1989) to be supported by a cylindrical vortex sheet. One is the Kelvin-Helmholtz mode. Another is the upstream-travelling guided jet mode that has been a topic of recent discussion. The third component, with positive phase velocity, has not previously been identified in screeching jets. We provide evidence that this downstream-travelling wave is a duct-like mode similar to that recently identified in high-subsonic jets by Towne et al. (2017). We further demonstrate that both of the latter two waves are generated by the interaction between the Kelvin-Helmholtz wavepacket and the shock cells in the flow, according to a theory first proposed in Tam & Tanna (1982). Finally, we consider the periodic spatial modulation of the coherent velocity fluctuation evident in screeching jets, and show that this modulation is the result of the superposition of the three wavelike structures, with no evidence that the shocks in the flow modulate the growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz wavepacket.