Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Shear Layers”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 811 records · Page 45

On the tones and pressure oscillations induced by flow over rectangular cavities

Experimental measurements of the frequencies of discrete tones induced by flow over rectangular cavities were carried out over a range of low subsonic Mach numbers to provide a reliable data base for (aircraft wheel well) cavity noise consideration. A mathematical model of the cavity tones and pressure oscillation phenomenon based on the coupling between shear layer instabilities and acoustic feedback is developed to help in understanding the tone generation mechanism. Good agreement is found between discrete tone frequencies predicted by the model and experimental measurements over a wide range of Mach numbers. Evidence of tones generated by the cavity normal mode resonance mechanism at very low subsonic Mach numbers is also presented.

Tam, C. K. W.↗

An experimental study of the flow field and pollutant formation in a two dimensional premixed, turbulent flame

Spark shadowgraphs, high-speed schlieren movies, and the tracing of individual eddies were used to study a turbulent reacting shear layer in a premixed propane/air flow. The flow took place in a two-dimensional combustor, and the flame was stabilized behind a rearward facing streamlined step. The data show that in the velocity range 7.5 to 22.5 m/sec the mixing layer is dominated by Brown-Roshko type large coherent structures in both reacting and nonreacting flows. Information on the eddies, the flame, and the distribution of gas concentrations is presented.

Ganji, A. R.↗

Comparison of two flow surveys above stalled wings

A laser velocimeter (LV) surveyed the flow above two stalled wings. Each wing was tested in a different wind tunnel at different Mach numbers. The low-Mach-number test had an angle of attack of 19.4 deg, 0.15 Mach number, and 1 x 1,000,000 Reynolds number. The mean velocities above the reversed, separated flow were closely modeled by error function profiles. Thus, the flow resembled a turbulent free-shear layer. The high-Mach-number test had an angle of attack of 19.5 deg, 0.49 Mach number, and 1,400,000 Reynolds number. A series of strong, discrete vortices were shed from the airfoil crest at regular intervals. Both tests demonstrated the importance of the unsteady part of the velocities.

Young, W. H., Jr.↗

An experimental study of sound radiation from a subsonic jet in simulated motion

A free-jet anechoic facility is used for quantitative determination of the effect of motion on the pure jet mixing noise from subsonic jets. The farfield measurements obtained outside the free jet are subjected to amplitude and angle corrections due to free-jet shear layer refraction; in addition, corrections are made to account for the distributed nature of the jet noise source as a function of frequency. The corrected results, which provide the changes in the jet mixing noise as a result of simulated jet motion, are presented for a range of jet velocities with a fixed free-jet velocity. Comparisons are made between the findings obtained and those related to other simulation and flight measurements. The results indicate that the effect of motion is to reduce jet mixing noise at all angles of measurement, and the reduction is broadband with the largest magnitude occurring around the spectral peak.

Yu, J. C.↗

The height variation of supergranular velocity fields determined from simultaneous OSO 8 satellite and ground-based observations

Results are reported for simultaneous satellite and ground-based observations of supergranular velocities in the sun, which were made using a UV spectrometer aboard OSO 8 and a diode-array instrument operating at the exit slit of an echelle spectrograph attached to a vacuum tower telescope. Observations of the steady Doppler velocities seen toward the limb in the middle chromosphere and the photosphere are compared; the observed spectral lines of Si II at 1817 A and Fe I at 5576 A are found to differ in height of formation by about 1400 km. The results show that supergranular motions are able to penetrate at least 11 density scale heights into the middle chromosphere, that the patterns of motion correlate well with the cellular structure seen in the photosphere, and that the motion increases from about 800 m/s in the photosphere to at least 3000 m/s in the middle chromosphere. These observations imply that supergranular velocities should be evident in the transition region and that strong horizontal shear layers in supergranulation should produce turbulence and internal gravity waves.

November, L. J.↗

A visual investigation of the separation and subsequent transition near the leading edge of airfoils

Subsonic (5 to 30 m/sec) wind tunnels were used to measure pressure distributions at the leading edge and upper surface of airfoil models and to obtain high-speed movie photographs of smoke-visualized separation, transition, and reattachment phenomena. Points of turbulent shear layer reattachment could be determined by using an oil-mixture coating on the surface. Plots of the static pressure coefficient along the chord of several models are presented, and the measured separation, transition, and reattachment points are plotted against the chord Reynolds number.

Arena, A. V.↗

Sound production due to large-scale coherent structures

The sound due to the large-scale (wavelike) structure in an infinite free turbulent shear flow is examined. Specifically, a computational study of a plane shear layer is presented, which accounts, by way of triple decomposition of the flow field variables, for three distinct component scales of motion (mean, wave, turbulent), and from which the sound - due to the large-scale wavelike structure - in the acoustic field can be isolated by a simple phase average. The computational approach has allowed for the identification of a specific noise production mechanism, viz the wave-induced stress, and has indicated the effect of coherent structure amplitude and growth and decay characteristics on noise levels produced in the acoustic far field.

Gatski, T. B.↗

An experimental study of USB flap noise reduction through mean flow modification

The effect of mean flow modification on the noise production of upper surface blown flaps has been studied experimentally. Mean velocity profile at the nozzle exit was modified from the usual 'top-hat' shape to 'Gamma' and 'L'-shaped profiles. The 'L'-modification caused noise reduction around and above the peak frequency of the 'top-hat' spectrum when compared on an equal thrust per exit area basis. Modification to 'Gamma'-shaped profile resulted in a shift of the spectrum to lower frequencies and a lower overall noise reduction. These modifications alter the development of the large scale disturbances in the upper shear layer and trailing edge wake of the wall jet geometry.

Joshi, M. C.↗

Attenuation of sound in a low Mach number nozzle flow

This paper examines the energy conversion mechanisms which govern the emission of low frequency sound from an axisymmetric jet pipe of arbitrary nozzle contraction ratio in the case of low Mach number nozzle flow. The incident acoustic energy which escapes from the nozzle is partitioned between two distinct disturbances in the exterior fluid. The first of these is the free-space radiation, whose directivity is equivalent to that produced by monopole and dipole sources. Second, essentially incompressible vortex waves are excited by the shedding of vorticity from the nozzle lip, and may be associated with the large-scale instabilities of the jet. Two linearized theoretical models are discussed. One of these is an exact linear theory in which the boundary of the jet is treated as an unstable vortex sheet. The second assumes that the finite width of the mean shear layer of the real jet cannot be neglected. The analytical results are shown to compare favourably with recent attenuation measurements.

Howe, M. S.↗

Scattering and distortion of the unsteady motion on transversely sheared mean flows

It is shown that the pressure and velocity fluctuations of the unsteady motion on a transversely sheared mean flow can be expressed entirely in terms of the derivatives of two potential functions. One of these is a convected quantity that can be specified as a boundary condition and is related to a transverse component of the upstream velocity field. The other can be determined by solving an inhomogeneous wave equation whose source term is also a convected quantity that can be specified as a boundary condition in any given problem. The general theory is used to study the interaction of an unsteady flow with a semi-infinite plate embedded in a shear layer. The acoustic field produced by this interaction is calculated in the limits of low and high frequency. The results are compared with experimental one-third octave sound pressure level radiation patterns. The agreement is found to be excellent, especially in the low frequency range, where the mean-flow and convective effects are shown to have a strong influence on the directivity of the sound.

Goldstein, M. E.↗

Magnetic fields, plasmas, and coronal holes - The inner solar system

Recent results concerning streams and magnetic fields in the inner solar system are reviewed. Observations have shown that MHD streams are bounded by thin shear layers within 1 AU, probably because they originate in coronal holes which have sharp boundaries. The properties of Alfvenic fluctuations in streams cannot be fully explained on the basis of the hypothesis that they are plane, transverse Alfven waves. A more complete and accurate description might be that they represent nonplanar general Alfven waves weakly coupled to a compressive mode and moving through a medium containing tangential discontinuities and other convected inhomogeneities.

Burlaga, L. F.↗

Turbulent density fluctuations in a subsonic and transonic free jet using crossed-beam schlieren techniques

Scalar density fluctuations were measured nonintrusively in the shear layer of a 5.08-cm (2-in.) cold air jet using a crossed-beam schlieren method. Two statistics, covariance and three-dimensional spectrum function, were estimated for an exit Mach number range of 0.3 to 0.97. The density fluctuation intensity, integral scale, and eddy convection speed were calculated and compared to available data where possible. Spectra were found to change significantly in shape becoming less peaked between 3 and 9 jet diameters downstream from the orifice, but they consistently exhibited a -5/3 power law decay at 3, 6, and 9 diameters for frequencies above the peak.

Martin, R. A.↗

Large-scale turbulent structures in jets and in flows over cavities and their relationship to entrainment and mixing

Large scale structures in jets and in flows over cavities were investigated experimentally to determine their role in entrainment, mixing, and noise production. The presence of these structures resulted in growth of the shear layer and entrainment. Merging of adjacent large scale structures caused the near field pressure signal in excited flows. It is believed that both the entrained fluid as well as its eventual mixing with the jet flow can be controlled by introducing pulsation in the jet flow at a frequency for which the flow is most unstable.

Sarohia, V.↗

Characterization of acoustic disturbances in linearly sheared flows

The equation describing the plane wave propagation, the stability, or the rectangular duct mode characteristics in a compressible inviscid linearly sheared parallel, but otherwise homogeneous flow, is shown to be reducible to Whittaker's equation. The resulting solutions, which are real, viewed as functions of two variables, depend on a parameter and an argument, the values of which have precise physical meanings depending on the problem. The exact solutions in terms of Whittaker functions are used to obtain a number of known results of plane wave propagation and stability in linearly sheared flows as limiting cases in which the speed of sound goes to infinity (incompressible limit) or the shear layer thickness, or wave number, goes to zero (vortex sheet limit). The usefulness of the exact solutions is then discussed in connection with the problems of plane wave propagation and the stability of a finite thickness layer with a linear velocity profile.

Koutsoyannis, S. P.↗

Energetics of vortex rollup and pairing

The change in kinetic energy between the initial and final states of the rollup of an infinite vortex sheet into an array of uniform vortices is calculated. From the result, an upper limit on the pitch-to-diameter ratio of the vortex array is found. This contrasts with a lower limit found from stability considerations by Moore and Saffman. By extending the calculation to the case of elliptical vortices, it is found that a combination of energy and stability considerations is able to predict, qualitatively, a number of the observed features of the free shear layer.

Ferziger, J. H.↗

Visualization of the laminar-turbulent transition in the flow over an airfoil using the smoke-wire technique

A flow visualization technique, referred to as the smoke-wire, was used for visualization of the transition of the free shear layer associated with the laminar separation bubble of a NACA 66 sub 3-018 airfoil section at low Reynolds number (50,000-130,000). The smoke-wire technique allows the introduction of fine smoke streaklines into the flow field through the electrical resistive heating of a very fine wire which has been coated with oil and which is located upstream from the leading edge of the airfoil section. Streakline data were collected using both high speed still and motion picture photography.

Batill, S. M.↗

Aerodynamic aspects of shock containing jet plumes

Aerodynamic and acoustic measurements of shock-free and shock-containing plumes were acquired for several supersonic free-jet model nozzles. The purpose was to investigate important features of the broadband shock noise generation process. The aerodynamic measurements include the variation of shock cell spacing and strength as a function of nozzle pressure ratio, and longitudinal turbulent-mass-flux axial development as determined by a hot-film probe. In addition, correlations of the hot-film probe with a near-field microphone were obtained. These measurements provide useful information concerning the relation of peak shock noise frequency and level with variations in shock cell spacing and strength. In general, it is shown that a distinction must be made between plumes containing weak and strong imbedded shocks. Strong shocks diminish the level of emitted shock noise and influence the behavior of the jet mixing noise process. The probable location and spectral content for the shock-shear layer interaction mechanism is indicated by the correlations. Numerical inviscid plume comparisons with experimental data are also included.

Seiner, J. M.↗

Numerical simulation of three-dimensional boattail afterbody flow fields

The thin shear layer approximations of the three-dimensional, compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved for subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flow over axisymmetric boattail bodies at moderate angles of attack. The plume is modeled by a solid body configuration identical to those used in experimental tests. An implicit algorithm of second-order accuracy is used to solve the equations on the ILLIAC IV computer. The turbulence is expressed by an algebraic model applicable to three-dimensional flow fields with moderate separation. The computed results compare favorably with three different sets of experimental data reported by Reubush, Shrewsbury, and Benek, respectively

Deiwert, G. S.↗