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Tam, Christopher K. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Tam, Christopher K. W..

At least 37 records · Page 2

Solutions of the benchmark problems by the dispersion-relation-preserving scheme

The 7-point stencil Dispersion-Relation-Preserving scheme of Tam and Webb is used to solve all the six categories of the CAA benchmark problems. The purpose is to show that the scheme is capable of solving linear, as well as nonlinear aeroacoustics problems accurately. Nonlinearities, inevitably, lead to the generation of spurious short wave length numerical waves. Often, these spurious waves would overwhelm the entire numerical solution. In this work, the spurious waves are removed by the addition of artificial selective damping terms to the discretized equations. Category 3 problems are for testing radiation and outflow boundary conditions. In solving these problems, the radiation and outflow boundary conditions of Tam and Webb are used. These conditions are derived from the asymptotic solutions of the linearized Euler equations. Category 4 problems involved solid walls. Here, the wall boundary conditions for high-order schemes of Tam and Dong are employed. These conditions require the use of one ghost value per boundary point per physical boundary condition. In the second problem of this category, the governing equations, when written in cylindrical coordinates, are singular along the axis of the radial coordinate. The proper boundary conditions at the axis are derived by applying the limiting process of r approaches 0 to the governing equations. The Category 5 problem deals with the numerical noise issue. In the present approach, the time-independent mean flow solution is computed first. Once the residual drops to the machine noise level, the incident sound wave is turned on gradually. The solution is marched in time until a time-periodic state is reached. No exact solution is known for the Category 6 problem. Because of this, the problem is formulated in two totally different ways, first as a scattering problem then as a direct simulation problem. There is good agreement between the two numerical solutions. This offers confidence in the computed results. Both formulations are solved as initial value problems. As such, no Kutta condition is required at the trailing edge of the airfoil.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Turbulent mixing noise from supersonic jets

There is now a substantial body of theoretical and experimental evidence that the dominant part of the turbulent noise of supersonic jets is generated directly by the large turbulence structures/instability waves of the jet flow. Earlier, Tam and Burton provided a description of the physical mechanism by which supersonically traveling instability waves can generate sound efficiently. They used the method of matched asymptotic expansions to construct an instability wave solution which is valid in the far field. The present work is an extension of the theory of Tam and Burton. It is argued that the instability wave spectrum of the jet may be regarded as generated by stochastic white noise excitation at the nozzle lip region. The reason why the excitation has white noise characteristics is that near the nozzle lip region the flow in the jet mixing layer has no intrinsic length and time scales. The present stochastic wave model theory of supersonic jet noise contains a single unknown multiplicative constant. Comparisons between the calculated noise directivities at selected Strouhal numbers and experimental measurements of a Mach 2 jet at different jet temperatures have been carried out. Favorable agreements are found.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Radiation boundary condition and anisotropy correction for finite difference solutions of the Helmholtz equation

In this paper finite-difference solutions of the Helmholtz equation in an open domain are considered. By using a second-order central difference scheme and the Bayliss-Turkel radiation boundary condition, reasonably accurate solutions can be obtained when the number of grid points per acoustic wavelength used is large. However, when a smaller number of grid points per wavelength is used excessive reflections occur which tend to overwhelm the computed solutions. Excessive reflections are due to the incompability between the governing finite difference equation and the Bayliss-Turkel radiation boundary condition. The Bayliss-Turkel radiation boundary condition was developed from the asymptotic solution of the partial differential equation. To obtain compatibility, the radiation boundary condition should be constructed from the asymptotic solution of the finite difference equation instead. Examples are provided using the improved radiation boundary condition based on the asymptotic solution of the governing finite difference equation. The computed results are free of reflections even when only five grid points per wavelength are used. The improved radiation boundary condition has also been tested for problems with complex acoustic sources and sources embedded in a uniform mean flow. The present method of developing a radiation boundary condition is also applicable to higher order finite difference schemes. In all these cases no reflected waves could be detected. The use of finite difference approximation inevita bly introduces anisotropy into the governing field equation. The effect of anisotropy is to distort the directional distribution of the amplitude and phase of the computed solution. It can be quite large when the number of grid points per wavelength used in the computation is small. A way to correct this effect is proposed. The correction factor developed from the asymptotic solutions is source independent and, hence, can be determined once and for all. The effectiveness of the correction factor in providing improvements to the computed solution is demonstrated in this paper.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Dispersion-relation-preserving finite difference schemes for computational acoustics

Time-marching dispersion-relation-preserving (DRP) schemes can be constructed by optimizing the finite difference approximations of the space and time derivatives in wave number and frequency space. A set of radiation and outflow boundary conditions compatible with the DRP schemes is constructed, and a sequence of numerical simulations is conducted to test the effectiveness of the DRP schemes and the radiation and outflow boundary conditions. Close agreement with the exact solutions is obtained.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Instability of rectangular jets

The instability of rectangular jets is investigated using a vortex-sheet model. It is shown that such jets support four linearly independent families of instability waves. Within each family there are infinitely many modes. A way to classify these modes according to the characteristics of their mode shapes or eigenfunctions is proposed. It is demonstrated that the boundary element method can be used to calculate the dispersion relations and eigenfunctions of these instability wave modes. The method is robust and efficient. A parametric study of the instability wave characteristics has been carried out. A sample of the numerical results is reported here. It is found that the first and third modes of each instability wave family are corner modes. The pressure fluctuations associated with these instability waves are localized near the corners of the jet. The second mode, however, is a center mode with maximum fluctuations concentrated in the central portion of the jet flow. The center mode has the largest spatial growth rate. It is anticipated that as the instability waves propagate downstream the center mode would emerge as the dominant instability of the jet.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Measured acoustic characteristics of ducted supersonic jets at different model scales

A large-scale (about a 25x enlargement) model of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) hardware was installed and tested in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory of the NASA Lewis Research Center. Acoustic measurements made in these two facilities are compared and the similarity in acoustic behavior over the scale range under consideration is highlighted. The study provide the acoustic data over a relatively large-scale range which may be used to demonstrate the validity of scaling methods employed in the investigation of this phenomena.

Jones, R. R., III↗

A prediction method for broadband shock associated noise from supersonic rectangualr jets

Braodband shock associated noise is an important aircraft noise component of the proposed high-speed civil transport (HSCT) at take-offs and landings. For noise certification purpose one would, therefore, like to be able to predict as accurately as possible the intensity, directivity and spectral content of this noise component. The purpose of this work is to develop a semi-empirical prediction method for the broadband shock associated noise from supersonic rectangular jets. The complexity and quality of the noise prediction method are to be similar to those for circular jets. In this paper only the broadband shock associated noise of jets issued from rectangular nozzles with straight side walls is considered. Since many current aircraft propulsion systems have nozzle aspect ratios (at nozzle exit) in the range of 1 to 4, the present study has been confined to nozzles with aspect ratio less than 6. In developing the prediction method the essential physics of the problem are taken into consideration. Since the braodband shock associated noise generation mechanism is the same whether the jet is circular or round the present prediction method in a number of ways is quite similar to that for axisymmetric jets. Comparisons between predictions and measurements for jets with aspect ratio up to 6 will be reported. Efforts will be concentrated on the fly-over plane. However, side line angles and other directions will also be included.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Theoretical aspects of supersonic jet noise

The topics covered include the following: the three components of supersonic jet noise; shock cell structure of imperfectly expanded jets; large turbulence structures/instability waves; supersonic jet noise theory; generation of turbulent mixing noise; comparisons between predicted peak noise frequency and direction of radiation with measurements; Strouhal number of maximum SPL of hot supersonic jets; near field sound pressure level contours; generation of broadband shock associated noise; calculated and measured far field shock noise spectra; generation of screech tones; and calculated and measured Strouhal number of screech tones.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Broadband shock associated noise from supersonic jets measured by a ground observer

The theory of broadband shock associated noise from supersonic jets in flight previously developed in the nozzle fixed coordinates is extended to the coordinate system of a stationary ground observer. The extended theory is relevant to community noise and aircraft certification noise prediction. Since the noise source is unaffected by which coordinate system of reference the radiated noise is measured, the same noise source model is retained in the present formulation. Only kinematic arguments are needed in the analysis. A formula for the noise power spectrum as measured by a ground observer is derived. The formula is applicable to hot as well as cold jets. This formula exhibits a form of Doppler shift in the noise spectrum. However, there is no high power convective amplification factor as some other investigators have proposed.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Dispersion-relation-preserving schemes for computational aeroacoustics

Finite difference schemes that have the same dispersion relations as the original partial differential equations are referred to as dispersion-relation-preserving (DRP) schemes. A method to construct time marching DRP schemes by optimizing the finite difference approximations of the space and time derivatives in the wave number and frequency space is presented. A sequence of numerical simulations is then performed.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Instability of rectangular jets

The instability of rectangular jets is investigated using a vortex sheet model. It is shown that such jets support four linearly independent families of instability waves. Within each family there are infinitely many modes. A way to classify these modes according to the characteristics of their mode shapes or eigenfunctions is proposed. A parametric study of the instability wave characteristics has been carried out. A sample of the numerical results is reported here. It is found that the first and third modes of each instability wave family are corner modes. The pressure fluctuations associated with these instability waves are localized near the corners of the jet. The second mode, however, is a center mode with maximum fluctuations concentrated in the central portion of the jet flow. The center mode has the largest spatial growth rate. It is anticipated that as the instability waves propagate downstream the center mode would emerge as the dominant instability of the jet.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Jet noise generated by large-scale coherent motion

The noise generated by large scale turbulence structures and instability waves of jets is discussed. Emphasis is placed on supersonic jets with moderate to high Reynolds numbers. This is because it is in these jets that unambiguous experimental and theoretical evidence is found indicating that large turbulence structures and instability waves are directly responsible for generating the dominant part of the noise. For subsonic jets similar large turbulence structures and instability waves do play a crucial role in the dynamics, spread, and mixing of the jet fluid. However, at subsonic convection speeds, they do not appear to be efficient noise generators. Many investigators believe that the dominant noise source of subsonic jets is, in fact, the small scale turbulence. As yet, this belief has not yet received universal acceptance. The issues involved are complicated and are not easy to resolve.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Relationship between the instability waves and noise of high-speed jets

The relationship between the instability waves and noise of hot jets at moderate supersonic Mach number is investigated. The relative importance of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability waves and the supersonic instability waves as sources of noise is considered. The results show that, for the range of Mach number and jet-to-ambient temperature ratio considered, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability waves have much higher total amplification and higher phase speed.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Impingement tones of large aspect ratio supersonic rectangular jets

The frequency structure of large aspect ratio jet impingement tones is analyzed. Feedback loops consisting of downstream propagating instability waves of the jet flow and upstream propagating acoustic waves from the wall to the nozzle lip produce as many as 20 or more tones when a supersonic rectangular jet of large aspect ratio is directed normal on a wall. It is seen that there are only two basic tones. The basic tone of the lower frequency is associated with a symmetric instability feedback mode of the jet, while that of the higher frequency is associated with an antisymmetric instability feedback mode. The remaining tones are combination tones of the two basic frequencies and their harmonics. It is determined that the measured basic impingement tone frequencies fall in the theoretical permissible frequency bands over a wide range of jet Mach number.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Theoretical model of discrete tone generation by impinging jets

A new feedback mechanism is proposed for discrete tone generation by impinging jets. It is suggested that the feedback is achieved by upstream-propagating waves associated with the lowest-order intrinsic neutral wave modes of the jet flow. These wave modes have well-defined radial and azimuthal pressure and velocity distributions, which are determined by the mean flow of the jets in the case of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability waves. The model proposed here allows the prediction of the average Strouhal number of impingement tones as a function of the jet Mach number.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗