Wave-Packet Models for Large-Scale Mixing Noise

A wave-packet Ansatz is used to model jet noise generation by large-scale turbulence. In this approach, an equivalent source is defined based on the two-point space-time correlation of hydrodynamic pressure on a conical surface surrounding the jet plume. The surface is sufficiently near the turbulent flow region to be dominated by non-propagating hydrodynamic signatures of large-scale turbulent structures, yet sufficiently far that linear behavior can be assumed in extending the near-field pressure to the acoustic field. In the present study, a 78-microphone array was used to measure hydrodynamic pressure on the conical surface in order to identify parameters for the model and to validate the approach. Six microphones were distributed in the azimuthal direction at each of 13 axial locations spanning the first 8 jet diameters, allowing decomposition of azimuthal modes m = 0 and m = 1. We show that a source model based on a Gaussian correlation function provides a consistently good representation of the noise source attributed to large-scale structures. The results provide evidence that large-scale wave-like structures, known to dominate aft radiation at supersonic phase speeds, are also relevant at subsonic speeds.