Pressure pulsations on the surface of a sphere in a subsonic stream

Many data are available on the drag C_x and the distribution of the static pressure over the surface of a sphere 1, 2]. However, there are virtually no data on pulsations of the pressure over the surface of a sphere. In the present paper, the results are given of an investigation of the total and spectral levels of the pressure pulsations at different points of the surface of a sphere at M 0.5–1.0 and Re (1.7–2.7)·.10⁶. It was found that the strongest pressure pulsations occur on the side in the region of the angle 90°. In this region at M 0.6–0.8 the relative total level o/q where q is the velocity head in the oncoming stream, reaches values 0.18–0.22. It was established that at M = 0.7–0.9 narrow-band maxima occur in the spectra of the pressure pulsations at frequencies Sh fD/V = 0.2–0.3. Data are also presented on the pulsations of the base pressure behind a spherical segment with short cylindrical and conical trailing edges.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 164–168, September–October, 1981.