The twin-jet configuration allows two different scenarios to close the screech feedback. For each jet, there is one loop involving disturbances which originate in that jet and arrive at its own receptivity point in phase (self-excitation). The other loop is associated with free-stream acoustic waves that radiate from the other jet, reinforcing the self-excited screech (cross-excitation). In this work, the role of the free-stream acoustic mode and the guided-jet mode as a closure mechanism for twin rectangular jet screech is explored by identifying eligible points of return for each path, where upstream waves propagating from such a point arrive at the receptivity location with an appropriate phase relation. Screech tones generated by these jets are found to be intermittent with an out-of-phase coupling as a dominant coupling mode. The instantaneous phase difference between the twin jets computed by the Hilbert transform suggests that a competition between out-of-phase and in-phase coupling is responsible for the intermittency. To model wave components of the screech feedback while ensuring perfect phase locking, an ensemble average of leading spectral proper orthogonal decomposition modes is obtained from several segments of large-eddy simulation data that correspond to periods of invariant phase difference between the two jets. Each mode is then extracted by retaining relevant wavenumber components produced via a streamwise Fourier transform. Spatial cross-correlation analysis of the resulting modes shows that most of the identified points of return for the cross-excitation are synchronised with the guided jet mode self-excitation, supporting that it is preferred in closing rectangular twin-jet screech coupling.

Fully resolved simulations are used to quantify the effects of heat transfer in the absence of buoyancy on the drag of a spatially fixed heated spherical particle at low Reynolds numbers ($Re$) in the range $10^{-3}\leqslant Re\leqslant 10$ in a variable-property fluid. The case where buoyancy is present is analysed in a subsequent paper. This analysis is carried out without making any assumptions on the amount of heat addition from the sphere and thus encompasses both the heating regime where the Boussinesq approximation holds and the regime where it breaks down. The particle is assumed to have a low Biot number, which means that the particle is uniformly at the same temperature and has no internal temperature gradients. Large deviations in the value of the drag coefficient as the temperature of the sphere increases are observed. When $Re<O(10^{-2})$, these deviations are explained using a low-Mach-number perturbation analysis as irrotational corrections to a Stokes–Oseen base flow. Correlations for the drag and Nusselt number of a heated sphere are proposed for the range of Reynolds numbers $10^{-3}\leqslant Re\leqslant 10$ which fit the computationally obtained values with less than 1 % and 3 % errors, respectively. These correlations can be used in simulations of gas–solid flows where the accuracy of the drag law affects the prediction of the overall flow behaviour. Finally, an analogy to incompressible flow over a modified sphere is demonstrated.

To investigate the effects of the nozzle-exit conditions on jet flow and sound fields, large-eddy simulations of an isothermal Mach 0.9 jet issued from a convergent-straight nozzle are performed at a diameter-based Reynolds number of $1\times 10^{6}$. The simulations feature near-wall adaptive mesh refinement, synthetic turbulence and wall modelling inside the nozzle. This leads to fully turbulent nozzle-exit boundary layers and results in significant improvements for the flow field and sound predictions compared with those obtained from the typical approach based on laminar flow in the nozzle. The far-field pressure spectra for the turbulent jet match companion experimental measurements, which use a boundary-layer trip to ensure a turbulent nozzle-exit boundary layer to within 0.5 dB for all relevant angles and frequencies. By contrast, the initially laminar jet results in greater high-frequency noise. For both initially laminar and turbulent jets, decomposition of the radiated noise into azimuthal Fourier modes is performed, and the results show similar azimuthal characteristics for the two jets. The axisymmetric mode is the dominant source of sound at the peak radiation angles and frequencies. The first three azimuthal modes recover more than 97 % of the total acoustic energy at these angles and more than 65 % (i.e. error less than 2 dB) for all angles. For the main azimuthal modes, linear stability analysis of the near-nozzle mean-velocity profiles is conducted in both jets. The analysis suggests that the differences in radiated noise between the initially laminar and turbulent jets are related to the differences in growth rate of the Kelvin–Helmholtz mode in the near-nozzle region.

A new multiscale simulation methodology is introduced to facilitate computationally efficient simulations of high Reynolds number turbulence seen in wall-bounded flows. The scale splitting methodology uses traditional large eddy simulation (LES) with a wall model to simulate the larger scales which are subsequently enriched using a space–time compatible kinematic simulation. Computational feasibility and robustness of the methodology are investigated using two idealized problems that emulate turbulence within the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and a finite Reynolds number channel flow problem which serves to validate the methodology against direct numerical simulation. The space–time correlations and spectra generated using enriched LES show excellent agreement with LES conducted at high resolution for all three problems; thereby demonstrating the potential of this approach for high resolution PBL simulations with a drastic reduction in the computational costs when compared to the conventional approach.

We have carried out three-dimensional Navier–Stokes simulations, from quiescent conditions to the limit cycle, of a theoretical travelling-wave thermoacoustic heat engine (TAE) composed of a long variable-area resonator shrouding a smaller annular tube, which encloses the hot (HHX) and ambient (AHX) heat exchangers, and the regenerator (REG). Simulations are wall-resolved, with no-slip and adiabatic conditions enforced at all boundaries, while the heat transfer and drag due to the REG and HXs are modelled. HHX temperatures have been investigated in the range 440–500 K with the AHX temperature fixed at 300 K. The initial exponential growth of acoustic energy is due to a network of travelling waves thermoacoustically amplified by looping around the REG/HX unit in the direction of the imposed temperature gradient. A simple analytical model demonstrates that such instability is a localized Lagrangian thermodynamic process resembling a Stirling cycle. An inviscid system-wide linear stability model based on Rott’s theory is able to accurately predict the operating frequency and the growth rate, exhibiting properties consistent with a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. The limit cycle is governed by acoustic streaming – a rectified steady flow resulting from high-amplitude nonlinear acoustics. Its key features are explained with an axially symmetric incompressible model driven by the wave-induced stresses extracted from the compressible calculations. These features include Gedeon streaming, Rayleigh streaming in the resonator, and mean recirculations due to flow separation. The first drives the mean advection of hot fluid from the HHX to a secondary heat exchanger (AHX2), in the thermal buffer tube (TBT), necessary to achieve saturation of the acoustic energy growth. The direct evaluation of the nonlinear energy fluxes reveals that the efficiency of the device deteriorates with the drive ratio and that the acoustic power in the TBT is balanced primarily by the mean advection and thermoacoustic heat transport.

A laminar Mach 6 flat plate boundary layer is perturbed using three different types of disturbances introduced through blowing and suction. The linear and nonlinear development and eventual breakdown to turbulence are investigated using direct numerical simulation. The three different transition mechanisms compared are first mode oblique breakdown, second mode oblique breakdown and second mode fundamental resonance. The focus of the present work is to compare the nonlinear development and breakdown to turbulence for the different transition mechanisms and explain the heat transfer overshoot observed in experiments. First mode oblique breakdown leads to the shortest transition length and a clear peak in wall heat transfer in the transitional region. For all three transition mechanisms, the development of streamwise streaks precedes the breakdown to fully turbulent flow. The modal linear and nonlinear development are analysed including the breakdown of the streaks. The effect of wall cooling is investigated for second mode fundamental resonance and no qualitative differences in the nonlinear processes are observed. Finally, the development towards fully turbulent flow including mean flow, turbulent spectra, and turbulent fluctuations is shown and the first mode oblique breakdown simulation shows the furthest development towards a fully turbulent flow.

The interaction between isotropic turbulence and a normal shock wave is investigated through a series of direct numerical simulations at different Reynolds numbers and mean and turbulent Mach numbers. The computed data are compared to experiments and linear theory, showing that the amplification of turbulence kinetic energy across a shock wave is described well using linearized dynamics. The post-shock anisotropy of the turbulence, however, is qualitatively different from that predicted by linear analysis. The jumps in mean density and pressure are lower than the non-turbulent Rankine–Hugoniot results by a factor of the square of the turbulence intensity. It is shown that the dissipative scales of turbulence return to isotropy within about 10 convected Kolmogorov time scales, a distance that becomes very small at high Reynolds numbers. Special attention is paid to the ‘broken shock’ regime of intense turbulence, where the shock can be locally replaced by smooth compressions. Grid convergence of the probability density function of the shock jumps proves that this effect is physical, and not an artefact of the numerical scheme.

The present investigation of aerofoil self-noise generation and propagation concerns the effects of mean flow and quadrupole sources on the broadband noise that arises from the interaction of turbulent boundary layers with the aerofoil trailing edge and the tonal noise that arises from vortex shedding generated by laminar boundary layers and trailing-edge bluntness. Compressible large-eddy simulations (LES) are conducted for a NACA0012 aerofoil with rounded trailing edge for four flow configurations with different angles of incidence, boundary layer tripping configurations and free-stream Mach numbers. The Reynolds number based on the aerofoil chord is fixed at . The acoustic predictions are performed by the Ffowcs Williams & Hawkings (FWH) acoustic analogy formulation and incorporate convective effects. Surface and volume integrations of dipole and quadrupole source terms appearing in the FWH equation are performed using a three-dimensional wideband multi-level adaptive fast multipole method (FMM) in order to accelerate the calculations of aeroacoustic integrals. In order to validate the numerical solutions, flow simulation and acoustic prediction results are compared to experimental data available in the literature and good agreement is observed in terms of both aerodynamic and aeroacoustic results. For low-Mach-number flows, quadrupole sources can be neglected in the FWH equation and mean flow effects appear only for high frequencies. However, for higher speeds, convection effects are relevant for all frequencies and quadrupole sources have a more pronounced effect for medium and high frequencies. The convective effects are most readily observed in the upstream direction.

Global-mode analysis is applied to a cold, M = 2.5 laminar jet. Global modes of the non-parallel jet capture directly both near-field dynamics and far-field acoustics which, in this case, are coupled by Mach wave radiation. In addition to type (a) modes corresponding to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, it is found that the jet also supports upstream-propagating type (b) modes which could not be resolved by previous analyses of the parabolized stability equations. The locally neutrally propagating part of a type (a) mode consists of the growth and decay of an aerodynamic wavepacket attached to the jet, coupled with a beam of acoustic radiation at a low angle to the jet downstream axis. Type (b) modes are shown to be related to the subsonic family of modes predicted by Tam & Hu (1989). Finally, significant transient growth is recovered by superposing damped, but non-normal, global modes, leading to a novel interpretation of jet noise production. The mechanism of optimal transient growth is identified with a propagating aerodynamic wavepacket which emits an acoustic wavepacket to the far field at an axial location consistent with the peaks of the locally neutrally propagating parts of type (a) modes.

In this study, we consider the effects of linear and nonlinear instability waves on the near-field dynamics and aeroacoustics of two-dimensional laminar compressible mixing layers. Through a combination of direct computations, linear and nonlinear stability calculations, we demonstrate the significant role of nonlinear mechanisms in accurately describing the behaviour of instability waves. In turn, these processes have a major impact on sound generation mechanisms such as Mach wave radiation and vortex pairing sound. Our simulations show that the mean flow correction, which is required in order to accurately describe the dynamics of large-scale vortical structures, is intrinsically tied to the nonlinear modal interactions and accurate prediction of saturation amplitudes of instability waves. In addition, nonlinear interactions are largely responsible for the excitation and development of higher harmonics in the flow which contribute to the acoustic radiation. Two flow regimes are considered: In supersonic shear layers, where the far-field sound is determined by the instability wave solution at sufficiently high Mach numbers, it is shown that these nonlinear effects directly impact the Mach wave radiation. In subsonic shear layers, correctly capturing the near-field vortical structures and the interactions of the subharmonic and fundamental modes become critical due to the vortex pairing sound generation process. In this regime, a method is proposed to combine the instability wave solution with the Lilley–Goldstein acoustic analogy in order to predict far-field sound.

An analysis of the sound radiated by three turbulent, high-speed jets is conducted using Lighthill's acoustic analogy (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 211, 1952, p. 564). Computed by large eddy simulation the three jets operate at different conditions: a Mach 0.9 cold jet, a Mach 2.0 cold jet and a Mach 1.0 heated jet. The last two jets have the same jet velocity and differ only by temperature. None of the jets exhibit Mach wave characteristics. For these jets the comparison between the Lighthill-predicted sound and the directly computed sound is favourable for all jets and for the two angles (30° and 90°, measured from the downstream jet axis) considered. The momentum (ρuiuj) and the so-called entropy [p − p∞ − a∞2(ρ − ρ∞)] contributions are examined in the acoustic far field. It is found that significant phase cancellation exists between the momentum and entropy components. It is observed that for high-speed jets one cannot consider ρuiuj and (p′ − a∞2ρ′)δij as independent sources. In particular the ρ′ūxūx component of ρuiuj is strongly coupled with the entropy term as a consequence of compressibility and the high jet velocity and not because of a linear sound-generation mechanism. Further, in more usefully decoupling the momentum and entropic contributions, the decomposition of Tij due to Lilley (Tech. Rep. AGARD CP-131 1974) is preferred. Connections are made between the present results and the quieting of high-speed jets with heating.

In this paper, the effects of free-stream turbulence on stagnation-point flow and heat transfer are investigated through large eddy simulation (LES) of homogeneous isotropic turbulence impinging upon an isothermal elliptical leading edge. Turbulent mean flow and Reynolds stress profiles along the stagnation streamline, where the mean flow is strain dominant, and at different downstream locations, where the mean flow gradually becomes shear-dominated, are used to characterize evolution of the free-stream turbulence. The Reynolds stress budgets are also obtained, and the turbulence anisotropy is analysed through the balance between the mean flow strain and the velocity pressure gradient correlation. In the presence of free-stream turbulence, intense quasi-streamwise vortices develop near the leading edge with a typical diameter of the order of the local boundary-layer thickness. These strong vortices cause the thermal fluxes to peak at a location much closer to the wall than that of the Reynolds stresses, resulting a greater sensitivity to free-stream turbulence for the heat transfer than the momentum transfer. The heat transfer enhancement obtained by the present LES agrees quantitatively with available experimental measurements. The present LES results are also used to examine the eddy viscosity and pressure-strain correlations in Reynolds stress turbulence models.

Broadband shock-associated noise is an important component of the overall noise generated by modern airplanes. In this study, sound generated by the weakly nonlinear interaction between linear instability waves and the shock-cell structure in supersonic jets is investigated numerically in order to gain insight into the broadband shock-noise problem. The model formulation decomposes the overall flow into a mean flow, linear instability waves, the shock-cell structure and shock-noise. The mean flow is obtained by solving RANSequations with a k-ε model. Locally parallel stability equations are solved for the shock structure, and linear parabolized stability equations are solved for the instability waves. Then, source terms representing the instability wave/shock-cell interaction are assembled and the inhomogeneous linearized Euler equations are solved for the shock-noise.Three cases are considered, a cold under-expanded Mj = 1.22 jet, a hot under-expanded Mj = 1.22 jet, and a cold over-expanded Mj = 1.36 jet.

Shock-noise computations are used to identify and understand significant trends in peak sound amplitudes and radiation angles. The peak sound radiation angles are explained well with the Mach wave model of Tam & Tanna J. Sound Vib. Vol. 81, 1982, p. 337). The observed reduction of peak sound amplitudes with frequency correlates well with the corresponding reduction of instability wave growth with frequency. However, in order to account for variation of sound amplitude for different azimuthal modes, the radial structure of the instability waves must be considered in additionto streamwise growth. The effect of heating on the Mj = 1.22 jet is shown to enhance the sound radiated due to the axisymmetric instability waves while the other modesare relatively unaffected. Solutions to a Lilley–Goldstein equation show that soundgenerated by ‘thermodynamic’ source terms is small relative to sound from ‘momentum’ sources though heating does increase the relative importance of the thermodynamic source. Furthermore, heating preferentially amplifies sound associated with the axisymmetric modes owing to constructive interference between sound from the momentumand thermodynamic sources. However, higher modes show destructive interference between these two sources and are relatively unaffected by heating.

The far-field sound of an unstable wave packet undergoing transition in a low-Mach-number, flat-plate boundary layer is investigated in the framework of Lighthill's acoustic analogy. Detailed accounts of the wave packet evolution are obtained by solving the full incompressible Navier–Stokes equations at Reδ = 1000. The numerically simulated flow structures show qualitative agreement with experimental observations of the fundamental breakdown type. The acoustic calculations are focused on the quadrupole source functions arising from Reynolds stress fluctuations. The wave packet is shown to produce negligible sound throughout the primary and secondary instability stages. Dramatic amplification of the Reynolds stress quadrupoles occurs as a result of the disintegration of the detached high-shear layer and the associated vortex shedding near the boundary layer edge. The dominant frequency of source oscillations coincides with that of vortex shedding.

Moore's (1954) inviscid linear analysis of the interaction of a shock wave with a plane acoustic wave is evaluated by comparison to computation. The analysis is then extended to study the interaction of an isotropic field of acoustic waves with a normal shock wave. The evolution of fluctuating kinetic energy, sound level and thermodynamic fluctuations across the shock wave are examined in detail.

The interaction of acoustic fluctuations with the shock is notably different from that of vortical fluctuations. The kinetic energy of the acoustic fluctuations decreases across the shock wave for Mach numbers between 1.25 and 1.8. For Mach numbers exceeding 3, the kinetic energy amplifies by levels that significantly exceed those found in the interaction of vortical fluctuations with the shock. Upon interacting with the shock wave, the acoustic waves generate vortical fluctuations whose contribution to the far-field kinetic energy increases with increasing Mach number. The level of sound increases across the shock wave. The rise in the sound pressure level across the shock varies from 5 to 20 dB for Mach number varying from 1.5 to 5. The fluctuations behind the shock wave are nearly isentropic for Mach number less than 1.5, beyond which the generation of entropy fluctuations becomes significant.

Interaction of isotropic quasi-incompressible turbulence with a weak shock wave was studied by direct numerical simulations. The effects of the fluctuation Mach number Mt of the upstream turbulence and the shock strength M21 — 1 on the turbulence statistics were investigated. The ranges investigated were 0.0567 ≤ Mt ≤ 0.110 and 1.05 ≤ M1 ≤ 1.20. A linear analysis of the interaction of isotropic turbulence with a normal shock wave was adopted for comparisons with the simulations.

Both numerical simulations and the linear analysis of the interaction show that turbulence is enhanced during the interaction with a shock wave. Turbulent kinetic energy and transverse vorticity components are amplified, and turbulent lengthscales are decreased. The predictions of the linear analysis compare favourably with simulation results for flows with M2t < a(M21 — 1) with a ≈ 0.1, which suggests that the amplification mechanism is primarily linear. Simulations also showed a rapid evolution of turbulent kinetic energy just downstream of the shock, a behaviour not reproduced by the linear analysis. Investigation of the budget of the turbulent kinetic energy transport equation shows that this behaviour can be attributed to the pressure transport term.

Shock waves were found to be distorted by the upstream turbulence, but still had a well-defined shock front for M2t < a(M21— 1) with a ≈ 0.1). In this regime, the statistics of shock front distortions compare favourably with the linear analysis predictions. For flows with M2t > a(M21— 1 with a ≈ 0.1, shock waves no longer had well-defined fronts: shock wave thickness and strength varied widely along the transverse directions. Multiple compression peaks were found along the mean streamlines at locations where the local shock thickness had increased significantly.

The effects of compressibility on free (unsteady) viscous heat-conducting vortices are investigated. Analytical solutions are found in the limit of large, but finite, Reynolds number, and small, but finite, Mach number. The analysis shows that the spreading of the vortex causes a radial flow. This flow is given by the solution of an ordinary differential equation (valid for any Mach number), which gives the dependence of the radial velocity on the tangential velocity, density, and temperature profiles of the vortex; estimates of the radial velocity found by solving this equation are found to be in good agreement with numerical solutions of the full equations. The experiments of Mandella (1987) also report a radial flow in the vortex, but their estimates are much larger than the analytical predictions, and it is found that the flow inferred from the iexperiments violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics for two-dimensional axisymmetric flow. It is speculated that three-dimensionality is the cause of this discrepancy. To obtain detailed analytical solutions, the equations for the viscous evolution are expanded in powers of Mach number, M. Solutions valid to O(M2), are discussed for vortices with finite circulation. Two specific initial conditions – vortices with initially uniform entropy and with initially uniform density – are analysed in detail. It is shown that swirling axisymmetric compressible flows generate negative radial velocities far from the vortex core owing to viscous effects, regardless of the initial distributions of vorticity, density and entropy.

In this paper we study the inviscid instability of a skewed compressible mixing layer between streams of different velocity magnitude and direction. The mean flow is governed by the three-dimensional laminar boundary-layer equations and can be reduced to a sum of a uniform flow and a two-dimensional shear flow. In the stability analysis, the amplification direction is assumed to be normal to the homogeneous direction of the mean flow. The results show that skewing enhances the instability by a factor of three for the incompressible mixing layer with velocity ratio 0.5 and uniform temperature. Under compressible conditions, skewing still increases the maximum amplification rate for a medium convective Mach number, but the enhancement is smaller. A scaling of the skewing effect is introduced which quantitatively explains the linear stability behaviour. Similarly, a suitably defined convective Mach number explains the compressibility effect.

The scattering of plane sound waves by a vortex is investigated by solving the compressible Navier–-Stokes equations numerically, and analytically with asymptotic expansions. Numerical errors associated with discretization and boundary conditions are made small by using high-order-accurate spatial differentiation and time marching schemes along with accurate non-reflecting boundary conditions. The accuracy of computations of flow fields with acoustic waves of amplitude five orders of magnitude smaller than the hydrodynamic fluctuations is directly verified. The properties of the scattered field are examined in detail. The results reveal inadequacies in previous vortex scattering theories when the circulation of the vortex is non-zero and refraction by the slowly decaying vortex flow field is important. Approximate analytical solutions that account for the refraction effect are developed and found to be in good agreement with the computations and experiments.