Spectral characteristics of unstable flow in the mixing layer of supersonic underexpanded jet over its initial region

An experimental study of spectral characteristics of unstable flow in the mixing layer of supersonic axisymmetric underexpanded jets with Mach number M_a = 1 is reported. The destabilization of the flow is related to the formation, in the mixing layer of the jets, of disturbances in the form of streamwise vortical structures of the Taylor — Goertler type. As a result, in the mixing layer there forms an azimuthally non-uniform stationary distribution of total pressure. The Fourier transform of azimuthal sweeps of non-uniformity in pressure distributions was used to calculate the amplitude-wave spectra. An analysis of the spectral characteristics has allowed us to evaluate the longitudinal increment of amplitude growth of the disturbances and their dependence on the wavenumber and on the nozzle pressure ratio. The range of wavenumbers in which the streamwise vortical structures grow in amplitude is identified. This work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 05-08-01215).