The acoustic impedance of perforated plates under various flow conditions relating to combustion chamber liners

The absorption of sound by cavities lined with perforated sheets depends crucially on the impedance of the orifices in the sheets. Although the theory for that absorption in the absence of a mean flow was well-developed in 1926, the presence of either a ‘bias’ flow through the orifices, or of a flow ‘grazing’ the sheet and deflecting the acoustic jets, radically alters the absorption. There are many theoretical and experimental treatments of the various cases, some of which are reviewed here. However, there has been little attempt to show how these data relate to one another, and this is also undertaken. The frequency dependence of the impedance is here expressed in terms of a Helmholtz number and used as the prime parameter for comparison. Theories for the cases where the mean flow is negligible are naturally based on the viscous penetration depth, whereas those for bias flow have a Strouhal number as the main parameter and are independent of viscosity. It is found that there are major uncertainties in the impedance for higher Strouhal numbers, when the bias flow is small. A criterion for transition to the no-bias flow theory is proposed. Theories and correlations for grazing flow rationally feature a Strouhal number based on the friction velocity in the duct, since this determines the boundary layer characteristics, but there should be a smooth transition to the case where the grazing flow can be considered negligible. Criteria for this are also proposed, based on the available experimental data. When both types of flow are present, particularly when the grazing velocity is larger than the bias velocity, the available data are very limited.