A combined analytical and numerical analysis of the flow-acoustic coupling in a cavity-pipe system

The generation of sound by flow through a closed, cylindrical cavity (expansion chamber) accommodated with a long tailpipe is investigated analytically and numerically. The sound generation is due to self-sustained flow oscillations in the cavity. These oscillations may, in turn, generate standing (resonant) acoustic waves in the tailpipe. The main interest of the paper is in the interaction between these two sound sources. An analytical, approximate solution of the acoustic part of the problem is obtained via the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The sound-generating flow is represented by a discrete vortex method, based on axisymmetric vortex rings. It is demonstrated through numerical examples that inclusion of acoustic feedback from the tailpipe is essential for a good representation of the sound characteristics.     

Acoustically Induced Flashback in a Staged Swirl-Stabilized Combustor

This paper describes a joint experimental and numerical investigation of the interaction between thermoacoustics and flashback mechanisms in a swirled turbulent burner. An academic air/propane combustor terminated by a choked nozzle is operated up to 2.5 bars. Experiments show that the flame can stabilize either within the combustion chamber or flashback inside the injection duct, intermittently or permanently. The present study focuses on the mechanisms leading to flashback: this phenomenon can occur naturally, depending on the swirl level which can be adjusted in the experiment by introducing axial flow through the upstream inlet. It can also be triggered by acoustic waves, either through acoustic forcing or self-excited thermoacoustic instability. Flashback is difficult to study experimentally, but it can be investigated numerically using LES: in a first configuration, the outlet of the chamber is treated as a non-reflecting surface through which harmonic waves can be introduced. In this case, a 20 kPa acoustic forcing is sufficient to trigger permanent flashback after a few cycles. When the LES computational domain includes the choked nozzle used experimentally, no forcing is needed for flashback to occur. Self-excited oscillations reach high levels rapidly, leading to flame flashback, as observed experimentally. These results also suggest a simple method to avoid flashback by using fuel staging, which is then tested successfully in both LES and experiments.     

Galloping instability and control of a rigid pendulum in a flowing soap film

A pendulum suspended in a fast flowing soap film may show sustained oscillations. The conditions necessary for self-excited motion to occur are outlined: a flow velocity above a threshold value along with geometrical constraints. The role of vortex shedding is discussed, and the observed instability is shown to be well-described by the galloping instability. Experimental results are supported by numerical simulations. Furthermore, we observe that the instability may be suppressed by attaching a long enough filament to the rear of the pendulum.     

Analysis of self-sustained oscillation sources in segmented flows

The analysis of self-sustained oscillations in segmented flow generated through porous walls has been carried out over a wide range of velocity levels; in fact, we studied a cold gas flow induced by injection through different wall injecting blocks. We have attempted in this study to analyse the potential unstable development occurring in solid propellant rocket motors. We lay emphasis upon the phenomenon of wall vortex shedding insofar as it conduces to acoustic mode resonance in the whole chamber, within whose confines impingement of such structures generates a source of noise. It is on account of segmented flow that the thin shear layer develops and that the aforementioned vortex shedding comes to induce aero-acoustic coupling. Subsequent experimental results highlight a link in such flows between these two noise sources - they also allow one to observe a pronounced form of selectivity in the energy transfer, i.e. in longitudinal acoustic mode amplification, which has an attested effect upon all of the pressure oscillations in the chamber.     

Shear layer instability and acoustic interaction in solid propellant rocket motors

Segmentation of solid propellant rocket motors has been demonstrated to be a source of unpredicted and undesirable pressure and thrust oscillations. Surface discontinuities are the primary cause of these vortex-shedding-driven oscillations, which result from a strong coupling between the shear layer instability and the acoustic motion in the chamber. The analysis of an axisymmetric geometry corresponding to a {1\over 15} subscale P230 motor of the Ariane 5 rocket is numerically computed. With a suitable mesh for the viscosity value studied, the aeroacoustics in the chamber is fully described. A coupling between the hydrodynamic instability and the organ-pipe acoustic mode is clearly demonstrated. The mechanism for frequency selection is discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-sustained oscillation and cavitation characteristics of a jet in a Helmholtz resonator

Self-sustained oscillations resulting from a sudden expansion in geometry, as encountered in cavities, occur in a broad array of engineering applications. In the present study, the turbulent flow past a 120°-impinging edge Helmholtz nozzle was investigated. A modified theoretical model accompanied by numerical simulation was proposed to obtain the range of the oscillation frequency and was verified using experimental results. It was found that the cavitation clouds in the chamber dominate the oscillating frequency under the low pressure-high flowrate condition. Based on the simulation results, the details of cavitation development, the motion of vortex structures, and the fluid injection and reinjection were investigated in one typical cycle. The interaction between the cavitation and the vortex formation was analyzed with the vortex transport equation. The dilatation term, which is related to the mass transfer rate through the linkage of velocity divergence, has a high value only around the bulk flow; while the baroclinic torque is predominant due to the unremitting collapse and coalescence of the cavitation clouds.     

ACOUSTIC–MEAN FLOW INTERACTION AND VORTEX SHEDDING IN SOLID ROCKET MOTORS

The present work is devoted to the numerical simulation of two important phenomena in the field of solid propellant rocket motors: the first is acoustic boundary layers that develop above the burning propellant; the other is a periodic vortex-shedding phenomenon which is the result of a strong coupling between the instability of mean flow shear layers and acoustic motions in the chamber. To predict the acoustic boundary layer, computations were performed for the lower half of a rectangular chamber with bottom-side injection. The outflow pressure is sinusoidally perturbed at a given frequency. For the highest CFL numbers the implicit scheme is not able to compute the unsteadiness in the acoustic boundary layer. With very low CFL numbers or with the explicit scheme the main features of the acoustic field are captured. To simulate the vortex-shedding mechanismin a segmented solid rocket motor, the explicit version is used. This computation shows a mechanism for ‘self-excited’ vortex shedding close to the second axial mode frequency. The use of the flux-splitting technique reduces substantially the amplitude of the oscillations. A few iterations are done with flux splitting, then the computation is performed without this technique. In this case both the frequency and the intensity are well predicted. A geometry more representative of the solid rocket motor is also computed. In this case the vortex-shedding process is more complex and pairing is observed.     

Effect of the acoustic regularization of initial perturbations on the development of ordered structures

Mechanisms are considered by which acoustic oscillations influence the structure of subsonic shear flows. Analysis of the experimental data [1–7] confirms the assumption made in [6] that the regularization of initial perturbations, which causes a higher degree of ordering and an increase in the life of vortices formed because of the development of instability waves or interaction of acoustic oscillations with the edge of the nozzle, is one of the mechanisms by which acoustics influences various shear flows. Photographs are given which show the regularizing effect of acoustics on the development of vortices in the wake behind the edge.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 171–174, January–February, 1986.     

Effect of the Nozzle Edge Shape on the Acoustic Sensitivity of a Jet

The effect of the nozzle edge shape on the acoustic sensitivity of jets, that is, on the dependence of the jet parameters on the amplitude and frequency of the acoustic oscillations produced by an external source, is experimentally studied. The investigation was performed for nozzle edge configurations, the variation of which did not result in a change in the jet characteristics without external acoustic excitation. This means that the change in the edge shape alone had no influence on the flow pattern at the nozzle exit or the boundary layer flow regime on the nozzle walls. Measurements of the dependence of the mean velocity and the velocity fluctuation intensity on the jet axis on the distance from the nozzle exit showed that a change in the nozzle edge shape can lead to a change in the acoustic sensitivity of the jet when the jet is exposed to external acoustic action.     

Radiation and scattering of sound from a vortex ring

The mechanisms of generation and scattering of sound by a vortex ring are investigated on the basis of fluid dynamics. The vortex ring can serve as a simple dynamic model of the large-scale structures observed in shear flows. Moreover, it is probably the most easily studied vortex element that can be created experimentally. The sound scattering investigation also served to determine the extent to which the vortex is affected by sound, its selectivity with respect to such parameters as the acoustic frequency, the angle of incidence of the wave, etc. The perturbed motion is considered against the background of the steady-state motion of the ring. The perturbed motion in the vortex core is determined on the basis of linear incompressible fluid dynamics. Two terms of the expansion in the M number of the far acoustic field generated by the perturbations in the core are found in accordance with Lighthill's theory. The acoustic power and directivity of the radiation and the acoustic instability growth rate are calculated. It is shown that the scattering of sound by the vortex ring is a resonance effect, and the scattering amplitude near resonance is determined. The acoustic action on the hydrodynamic structure of the flow in the core of the ring is especially intense near the resonances and extends over a period short as compared with the characteristic time of the acoustic instability.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 83–95, May–June, 1987.     

Analysis of Unsteady Motion with Respect to Noise Sources in a Gas Turbine Combustor: Isothermal Flow Case

In order to evaluate the direct and indirect contributions to the total combustion noise emission, a combustion chamber consisting of a swirl burner and an exit nozzle of Laval-shape, representing a gas turbine combustor, is investigated by means of experiments and large eddy simulation. Focused on the isothermal flow case first and encouraged by a good overall agreement between the LES and the experimental data for the flow field, a first characterisation of the flow with respect to noise sources is performed. To analyse acoustic properties of the flow, time and length scales are evaluated inside the combustor. Furthermore, the evidence for the existence of a precessing vortex core (PVC), typical for configurations with swirl, is revealed. Finally, the effect of the PVC on the flow inside the Laval nozzle is discussed.     

Three-wave interactions of disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer on a porous surface

Interactions of disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer on a porous surface are considered within the framework of the weakly nonlinear stability theory. Acoustic and vortex waves in resonant three-wave systems are found to interact in the weak redistribution mode, which leads to weak decay of the acoustic component and weak amplification of the vortex component. Three-dimensional vortex waves are demonstrated to interact more intensively than two-dimensional waves. The feature responsible for attenuation of nonlinearity is the presence of a porous coating on the surface, which absorbs acoustic disturbances and amplifies vortex disturbances at high Mach numbers. Vanishing of the pumping wave, which corresponds to a plane acoustic wave on a solid surface, is found to assist in increasing the length of the regions of linear growth of disturbances and the laminar flow regime. In this case, the low-frequency spectrum of vortex modes can be filled owing to nonlinear processes that occur in vortex triplets.     

Stability of the combustion process in elastic combustion chambers

High-frequency instability phenomena in rigid combustion chambers have been studied theoretically in [1–3]. This phenomenon is attributed to the interaction between the combustion processes and combustion-product fluctuations in the chamber. One of the possible mechanisms of formation of high-frequency instability is examined in [3], where the combustion rate is represented in the form of a retarded pressure functional. In this case, the problem is reduced to studying the stability of a certain distributed self-oscillating time-lag system.If the oscillation frequencies of the combustion products are comparable to the natural vibrations of the shell which forms the combustion chamber, then it is natural to expect that the elasticity of the chamber walls will affect the combustion process. Coupled effects of acoustoelastic instability can arise, in whose development the vibrations of the chamber wall play a substantial role. These effects are particularly undesirable from the point of view of the vibrational stability of combustion chambers.In this paper, a theory of high-frequency instability of stationary combustion is developed with allowance for elastic deformations of the combustion chamber walls. The theory is based on the mechanism of vibrational combustion [1–3], according to which the combustion front is assumed to the concentrated, while the velocity jump at the front is expressed through a retarded pressure functional. It is assumed that the combustion product flow is one-dimensional and isentropic and that the chamber is cylindrical. The deformations of the chamber are described via the moment theory of shells. The existence is revealed of additional instability regions produced by the interaction between the elastic vibrations of the chamber walls and the acoustic oscillations of the combustion products. The influence of the relation between the elastic and acoustic frequencies and of the structural damping factor in the combustion chamber walls on the stability of the stationary combustion process is examined. The problem discussed is treated as a mathematical model for more complex asymmetric problems in which the elastic and acoustic frequencies can be of the same order.     

冲击射流中反馈环机理的再研究

冲击射流的噪声抑制对于研究短程起飞和垂直起降飞行器(STOVL)是极其重要的. 为了研究冲击射流噪声尤其是冲击单音与涡结构尺度之间的关系以及反馈声波的上传方向,采用小波分析技术和``声类比'方法来分析冲击单音的传播方向. 研究中用到的冲击射流的速度场由PIV技术给出,冲击单音的频率通过噪声场的测量获得. 利用双正交小波变换来提取冲击射流速度场中含有的波动信息,结合冲击单音的频率特性对噪声场进行研究.研究结果表明大尺度结构是冲击单音的``拟声源'. 此外,还可以看出大尺度涡结构产生的反馈声波一部分向喷嘴出口处传播,形成反馈环;另一部分反馈声波向四周传播.      

Instability of a planar liquid sheet with surrounding fluids between two parallel walls

We investigate the linear and nonlinear instability of a planar liquid sheet with surrounding fluids between two parallel plane solid walls. Linear analysis shows that the maximum temporal growth rate and unstable wave number region of disturbances increase for the dilational and sinuous modes when the gap between the sheet and the wall decreases. The walls have more influence on the instability when the density ratio of the surrounding fluid to the sheet and/or the Weber number decrease. On the other hand, nonlinear analysis is performed by means of the discrete vortex method, where double vortex rows and their mirror images are placed so as to satisfy the boundary condition on the walls. Numerical results show that the walls enhance nonlinearity, which causes deformation and distortion of the sheet, whereas the nonlinearity diminishes linear growth rates except for long dilational disturbances. In particular, as the walls are placed more closely to the sheet, local sheet thinning becomes more pronounced in the long dilational mode, while the dilational mode is more strongly induced from the sinuous mode through monotonic or periodic energy exchanges between the two modes.     

On one mechanism of formation of tornado‐like vortices in a rotating fluid

It is shown that during excitation of forced, resonant, inertial oscillations of large amplitude in a rigidly rotating fluid, the mechanism of formation of tornadolike vortices is primarily of a kinematic nature($advection of circulation of the azimuthal component velocity and stretching of vortex lines by the poloidal components of the velocity field that arise from excitation of inertial oscillations). The main parameters of the vortices are obtained by solutions of model problems. To excite such oscillations, it is necessary to deliver energy far exceeding the initial energy of the rotating fluid. Therefore, inertial oscillations by themselves cannot lead to the occurrence of intense atmospheric vortices. Nevertheless, such oscillations can apparently play the role of a trigger mechanism that activates more complex processes of vortex formation related to instability of the atmosphere.     

Compressible and confined vortex flow

The internal compressible flow of a thin vortex chamber was investigated experimentally by measuring the radial distribution of temperature and pressure, from which the velocity field was calculated. The bulk of the internal vortex was found to be described by u_θr^0.69 = constant. The total resistance of the vortex chamber to the flow was also investigated in the context of fluidic vortex diode behavior under conditions of compressible and choked flow. It was found that the vortex chamber choked at an upstream-to-downstream pressure ratio of about 6 and in doing so passed a mass flow rate of 28% of the equivalent one-dimensional ideal nozzle. The resistance of vortex chambers is known to be strongly influenced by the presence of reversed flow in the exit due to vortex breakdown. Schlieren photography of the swirling exhaust flow was used to show that, while vortex breakdown does occur, it can only do so after the flow has become subsonic downstream of the exit and cannot therefore influence the vortex chamber resistance.     

Characteristics of Oscillations in Supersonic Open Cavity Flows

Characteristics of oscillations in supersonic open cavity flows are investigated numerically using hybrid RANS/LES (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes/Large Eddy Simulation) method. The oscillation regimes and feedback mechanisms for the supersonic cavity flows are identified and analyzed. The calculation captures a mixed shear-layer/wake oscillation mode in the flow of Ma = 1.75, where these two modes occur alternately. The shear-layer mode and wake mode are driven by vortex convection-acoustic feedback and absolute instability, respectively. In particular, the results indicate that the feedback-acoustic-wave in the shear-layer mode is probably generated by the reflection of the downstream-traveling pressure wave, associated with the shed vortex in the shear layer, on the aft wall. The cavity flow of Ma = 2.52 is then simulated to see the influence of Mach number. It is found that the increase of Mach number may decrease the amplitude of the fluctuations in the shear layer, inhibiting the transition to wake mode. Furthermore, the influence of upstream injection is also studied, where the results show that the injection only weakens the oscillations and faintly shifts the resonant frequencies.     

Investigation of a combustion driven oscillation in a refinery flare: Part B: Visualisation of a periodic flow instability in a bifurcating duct following a contraction

A flow visualisation study was performed to investigate a periodic flow instability in a bifurcating duct within the tip of the flares at the Shell refinery in Clyde, NSW, to verify the trigger of a combustion-driven oscillation proposed in Part A of this study, and to identify its features. The model study assessed only the flow instability, uncoupled from the acoustic resonance and the combustion that are also present in the actual flare. Three strong, coupled flow oscillations were found to be present in three regions of the fuel line in the flare tip model. A periodic flow separation was found to occur within the contraction at the inlet to the tip, a coupled, periodic flow oscillation was found in the two transverse “cross-over ducts” from the central pipe to the outer annulus and an oscillating flow recirculation was present in the “end-cap” region of the central pipe. The dimensionless frequency of these oscillations in the model was found to match that measured in the full-scale plant for high fuel flow rates. This, and the strength of these flow oscillations, gives confidence that they are integral to the full-scale combustion-driven oscillation and most likely the primary trigger. The evidence indicates that the periodic flow instability is initiated by the separation and roll-up of the annular boundary layer at the start of the contraction in the fuel section of the flare tip. The separation generates an annular vortex which interacts with the blind-ended pipe downstream, leading to a pressure wave which propagates back upstream, initiating the next separation event and repeating the cycle. The study also investigated flow control devices with a view to finding a practical approach to mitigate the oscillations. The shape of these devices was constrained to allow installation without removing the tip of the flare. This aspect of the study highlighted the strength and nature of the coupled oscillation, since it proved to be very difficult to mitigate the oscillation in this way. An effective configuration is presented, comprising of three individual components, all three of which were found to be necessary to eliminate the oscillation completely.     

Effect of nozzle thickness on the self-excited impinging planar jet

The self-excited oscillation of a large aspect ratio planar jet impinging on a flat plate is investigated experimentally at a single transonic jet velocity to clarify the effect of varying the jet thickness on pattern of jet oscillation and frequency of resulting acoustic tone. The study has been performed for a series of jet thicknesses, 1 mm to 4 mm, each of which is tested for the complete range of plate position, i.e. impingement distance, over which acoustic tones are generated. The results reveal that the jet oscillation is controlled by a fluid-dynamic mechanism for small impingement distances, where the hydrodynamic flow instability controls the jet oscillation without any coupling with local acoustic resonances. At larger impingement distances, a fluid-resonant mechanism becomes dominant, in which one of the various hydrodynamic modes of the jet couples with one of the resonant acoustic modes occurring between the jet nozzle and the impingement plate. Within the fluid-resonant regime, the acoustic tones are found to be controlled by the impingement distance, which is the length scale of the acoustic mode, with the jet thickness having only minor effects on the tone frequency. Flow visualization images of the jet oscillation pattern at a constant impingement distance show that the oscillation occurs at the same hydrodynamic mode of the jet despite a four-fold increase in its thickness. Finally, a feedback model has been developed to predict the frequency of acoustic tones, and has been found to yield reasonable predictions over the tested range of impingement distance and nozzle thickness.