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At least 73 records · Page 4

Numerical simulation of vortical flow over an elliptical-body missile at high angles of attack

Numerical solutions to the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are given for the flow about an elliptical body missile (3:1 ellipse) at a Mach number of 2.5 and a unit Reynolds number of 6.56 x 10 to the 6th/m. At high angles of attack, the flow is dominated by large-scale free vortices which occur in the lee-side flow field due to crossflow boundary-layer separation. Emphasis is focused on the accurate prediction of the lee-side vortical flow. Solutions are presented for both symmetric and asymmetric (body rolled 45 deg) configurations at 10 deg and 20 deg angle of attack. The computed results are compared with experimental surface pressure coefficients and vapor-screen photographs. Excellent agreement is obtained in all cases.

Newsome, R. N.↗

Electromagnetics and Fluid Dynamics

Previous efforts focused on developing tools for design of low observables were sustained. The final product was the maturation of a high-order accurate finite-volume based code to solve Maxwell's equations. One of the primary achievements was the development and implementation of efficient filtering techniques which enhance the robustness of high-order and optimized schemes without significant adverse impact on accuracy. This has eliminated the stability barrier which restrains the common use of high-order schemes for conservative wave propagation phenomena on curvilinear meshes. A study was performed of crossing shock interactions under conditions of increasing interaction strength and asymmetry. In the first category, the observed computed topological bifurcations were correlated with the formation of various lines of coalescence and divergence evident in experimental and computed surf-ace oil maps. ne flow structure arising from asymmetric interactions was investigated with particular emphasis on: 1) vorticity dynamics, 2) shock-structure and 3) sidewall vortex loading. Several efforts of the prior year were successfully published in archival journals. The high-order algorithms developed for CEM have been implemented into the FDL3DI CFD code are presently undergoing extensive testing. Preliminary results are highly encouraging.

Gaitonde, Datta↗

Asymmetric effects in three-dimensional spatially-developing mixing layers

Three-dimensional structures in spatially developing mixing layers are examined using direct numerical simulations. The growth of streamwise vortices and their interaction with the main two-dimensional rollers as well as the effects of the observed hydrodynamic structures on asymmetric entrainment and mixing are studied. It is found that, at low Reynolds number, the streamwise vortices reduce the entrainment asymmetry of the two-dimensional flow. Passive scalar mixing is quantified by calculating the amount of combustion product produced by a fast chemical reaction. It is shown that the temporally developing case is easier to simulate, but contains an extra symmetry not present in spatially developing flows.

Buell, Jeffrey C.↗

A Numerical Study of Hurricane Erin (2001): Model Verification and Storm Evolution - Part 1

The Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research mesoscale model MM5 is used to simulate Hurricane Erin (2001) at high resolution (4-km spacing) from its early development as a tropical depression on 7 September 2001, through a period of rapid intensification into a strong hurricane (8-9 September), and finally into a stage during which it maintains its intensity on 10 September. These three stages of development, intensification, and maintenance in the simulation are in good agreement with the observed evolution of Erin. The simulation shows that during the development and early portions of the intensification stages, intensification is favored because the environmental wind shear is weak and the system moves over a warm tongue of water. As Erin intensifies, the wind'shear gradually increases with the approach of an upper-level trough and strengthening of a low-level high pressure system. By 10 September, the wind shear peaks and begins to decrease, the storm moves over slightly cooler waters, and the intensification ends. Important structural changes occur at this time as the outer precipitation shift from the northeastern and eastern sides to the western side of the eye and precipitation begins to surround the entire eye to initiate the development of a secondary wind maximum and an outer eyewall. The simulation is used to investigate the role of vertical wind shear in the changes of the precipitation structure that took place between 9-10 September by examining the effects of both storm-relative flow changes and changes in the shear-induced tilt. Qualitative agreement is found between the divergence pattern and advection of vorticity by the relative flow with convergence (divergence) generally associated with asymmetric inflow (outflow) in the eyewall region. The shift in the outer precipitation is consistent with a shift in the low-level relative inflow from the northeastern to the northwestern side of the storm. The changes in the relative flow are associated with changes in the winds as the hurricane moves relative to the upper tough and the low-level high pressure system. Examination of the shear-induced tilt of the vortex shows that the change in the tilt direction is greater than that of the shear direction as the tilt shifts from a northerly orientation to northwesterly. Consistent with theory for adiabatic vortices, the maximum low-level convergence and upper-level divergence (and the maximum upward motion) occurs in the direction of tilt. Consequently, both mechanisms may play roles in the changes in the precipitation pattern.

Wu, Liquang↗

A Numerical Study of Hurricane Erin (2001): Model Verification and Storm Evolution - Part 1

The fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) is used to simulate Hurricane Erin (2001) at high resolution (4-km spacing) from its early development as a tropical depression on 7 September 2001, through a period of rapid intensification into a strong hurricane (8 9 September), and finally into a stage during which it maintains its intensity on 10 September. These three stages of formation, intensification, and maintenance in the simulation are in good agreement with the observed evolution of Erin. The simulation shows that during the formation and early portions of the intensification stages, intensification is favored because the environmental wind shear is weak and the system moves over a warm tongue of water. As Erin intensifies, the wind shear gradually increases with the approach of an upper-level trough and strengthening of a low-level high pressure system. By 10 September, the wind shear peaks and begins to decrease, the storm moves over slightly cooler waters, and the intensification ends. Important structural changes occur at this time as the outer precipitation shifts from the northeastern and eastern sides to the western side of the eye. A secondary wind maximum and an outer eyewall begin to develop as precipitation begins to surround the entire eye. The simulation is used to investigate the role of vertical wind shear in the changes of the precipitation structure that took place between 9 and 10 September by examining the effects of changes in storm-relative flow and changes in the shear-induced tilt. Qualitative agreement is found between the divergence pattern and advection of vorticity by the relative flow with convergence (divergence) generally associated with asymmetric inflow (outflow) in the eyewall region. The shift in the outer precipitation is consistent with a shift in the low-level relative inflow from the northeastern to the northwestern side of the storm. The changes in the relative flow are associated with changes in the environmental winds as the hurricane moves relative to the upper trough and the low-level high pressure system. Examination of the shear-induced tilt of the vortex shows that the change in the tilt direction is greater than that of the shear direction as the tilt shifts from a northerly orientation to northwesterly. Consistent with theory for adiabatic vortices, the maximum low-level convergence and upper-level divergence (and the maximum upward motion) occurs in the direction of tilt. Consequently, both mechanisms may play roles in the changes in the precipitation pattern.

Wu, Liguang↗

Turbulent magnetic reconnection

The results of two-dimensional spectral-method MHD simulations of the effect of turbulence on magnetic-reconnection processes are presented in extensive graphs and tables and characterized in detail. In a periodic sheet-pinch configuration, early-onset, persistent turbulence is found to occur when a low level of broadband fluctuations is introduced into the initial data. Features observed include small-scale unsteady coherent electric-current and vorticity structures, enhanced viscous and resistive dissipation, unsteady and spatially asymmetric fluid flow, large-scale and small-scale magnetic islands, multiple X points, large-amplitude electric-field fluctuations, and spectral characteristics indicating that the turbulence is broadband in both spatial directions and similar to homogeneous MHD turbulence. The importance of reconnection for studies of solar, magnetospheric, and laboratory plasmas in inhomogeneous magnetic fields is indicated.

Matthaeus, W. H.↗

Aerodynamic control of NASP-type vehicles through Vortex manipulation. Volume 1: Static water tunnel tests

Water tunnel tests were conducted on a NASP-type configuration to evaluate different pneumatic Forebody Vortex Control (FVC) methods. Flow visualization and yawing moment measurements were performed at angles of attack from 0 deg to 30 deg. The pneumatic techniques tested included jet and slot blowing. In general, blowing can be used efficiently to manipulate the forebody vortices at angles of attack greater than 20 deg. These vortices are naturally symmetric up to alpha = 25 deg and asymmetric between 25 deg and 30 deg angle of attack. Results indicate that tangential aft jet blowing is the most promising method for this configuration. Aft jet blowing produces a yawing moment towards the blowing side and the trends with blowing rate are well behaved. The size of the nozzle is not the dominant factor in the blowing process; the change in the blowing 'momentum,' i.e., the product of the mass flow rate and the velocity of the jet, appears to be the important parameter in the water tunnel (incompressible and unchoked flow at the nozzle exit). Forward jet blowing is very unpredictable and sensitive to mass flow rate changes. Slot blowing (with the exception of very low blowing rates) acts as a flow 'separator'; it promotes early separation on the blow side, producing a yawing moment toward the non-blowing side for the C(sub mu) range investigated.

Suarez, Carlos J.↗

Structural Dynamic/CFD Interaction for Computation of Vertical Tail Buffet

The multi-disciplinary problem of tail buffeting is solved using three sets of equations. The first set is the unsteady, compressible, full Navier Stokes equations which are used for obtaining the flow-field vector and the aerodynamic loads. The second set is the coupled aeroelastic equations which are used for obtaining the bending and torsional deflections of the tail. The third set is the grid-displacement equations which are used for updating the grid coordinates due to the tail deflections. For the computational applications a sharp-edged delta wing of aspect ratio one and a rectangular vertical tail of aspect ratio one placed in the plane of geometric symmetry behind the wing are considered. The configuration is pitched at a critical angle of attack (alpha = 38 deg.) which produces asymmetric, vortex-breakdown flow of the delta wing primary vortices. The results show the effects of coupled and uncoupled bending-torsional responses and the effects of the Reynolds number.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

Effect of delta tabs on mixing and axis switching in jets from asymmetric nozzles

The effect of delta tabs on mixing and the phenomenon of axis switching in free air jets from various asymmetric nozzles was studied experimentally. Flow visualization and Pitot probe surveys were carried out with a set of small nozzles (D = 1.47 cm) at a jet Mach number, Mj = 1.63. Hot wire measurements for streamwise vorticity were carried out with larger nozzles (D = 6.35 cm) at Mj = 0.31. Jet mixing with the asymmetric nozzles, as indicated by the mass fluxes downstream, was found to be higher than that produced by a circular nozzle. The circular nozzle with four delta tabs, however, produced fluxes much higher than that produced by a asymmetric nozzles themselves or by most of the tab configurations tried with them. Even higher fluxes could be obtained with only a few cases, e.g., with 3:1 rectangular nozzle with two large delta tabs placed on the narrow edges. In this case, the jet 'fanned out' at a large angle after going through one axis switch. The axis switching could be either stopped or augmented with suitable choice of the tab configurations. Two mechanisms are identified governing the phenomenon. One, as described in Ref. 12 and referred to here as the omega(sub Theta)-induced dynamics, is due to differential induced velocities of different segments of a rolled up azimuthal vortical structure. The other is the omega(sub x)-induced dynamics due to the induced velocities of streamwise vortex pairs in the flow. While the former dynamics are responsible for rapid axis switching in periodically forced jets, the effect of the tabs is governed mainly by the latter. It is inferred that both dynamics are active in a natural asymmetric jet issuing from a nozzle having an upstream contraction. The tendency for axis switching caused by the omega(sub Theta)-induced dynamics is resisted by the omega(sub x)-induced dynamics, leading to a delayed or no switch over in that case. In jets from orifices and in screeching jets, the omega(sub Theta)-induced dynamics dominate causing a faster switch over.

Zaman, K. B. M. Q.↗

Bifurcation of equilibrium positions for ellipsoidal particles in inertial shear flows between two walls

We conducted a systematic numerical investigation of spherical, prolate and oblate particles in an inertial shear flow between two parallel walls, using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). It was previously shown that above a critical Reynolds number, spherical particles experience a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation of the equilibrium position in shear flow between two parallel walls, namely that the central equilibrium position becomes unstable, leading to the emergence of two new off-centre stable positions (Foxet al.,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 915, 2021). This phenomenon was unexpected given the symmetry of the system. In addition to confirming this finding, we found, surprisingly, that ellipsoidal particles can also return to the centre position from the off-centre positions when the particle Reynolds number is further increased, while spherical particles become unstable under this increased Reynolds number. By utilizing both SPH and the finite element method for flow visualization, we explained the underlining mechanism of this reverse of bifurcation by altered streamwise vorticity and symmetry breaking of pressure. Furthermore, we expanded our investigation to include asymmetric particles, a novel aspect that had not been previously modelled, and we observed similar trends in particle dynamics for both symmetric and asymmetric ellipsoidal particles. While further validation through laboratory experiments is necessary, our research paves the road for development of new focusing and separation methods for shaped particles.

Mechanics↗

Passive scalar entrainment and mixing in a forced, spatially-developing mixing layer

Numerical simulations are performed for the forced, spatially-developing plane mixing layer in two and three dimensions. Transport of a passive scalar field is included in the computation. This, together with the allowance for spatial development in the simulations, affords the opportunity for study of the asymmetric entrainment of irrotational fluid into the layer. The inclusion of a passive scalar field provides a means for simulating the effect of this entrainment asymmetry on the generation of 'products' from a 'fast' chemical reaction. Further, the three-dimensional simulations provide useful insight into the effect of streamwise structures on these entrainment and 'fast' reaction processes. Results from a two-dimensional simulation indicate 1.22 parts high-speed fluid are entrained for every one part low-speed fluid. Inclusion of streamwise vortices at the inlet plane of a three-dimensional simulation indicate a further increase in asymmetric entrainment - 1.44:1. Results from a final three-dimensional simulation are presented. In this case, a random velocity perturbation is imposed at the inlet plane. The results indicate the 'natural' development of the large spanwise structures characteristic of the mixing layer.

Lowery, P. S.↗

Experiments in Aircraft Roll-Yaw Control using Forebody Tangential Blowing

Advantages of flight at high angles of attack include increased maneuverability and lift capabilities. These are beneficial not only for fighter aircraft, but also for future supersonic and hypersonic transport aircraft during take-off and landing. At high angles of attack the aerodynamics of the vehicle are dominated by separation, vortex shedding and possibly vortex breakdown. These phenomena severely compromise the effectiveness of conventional control surfaces. As a result, controlled flight at high angles of attack is not feasible for current aircraft configurations. Alternate means to augment the control of the vehicle at these flight regimes are therefore necessary. The present work investigates the augmentation of an aircraft flight control system by the injection of a thin sheet of air tangentially to the forebody of the vehicle. This method, known as Forebody Tangential Blowing (FTB), has been proposed as an effective means of increasing the controllability of aircraft at high angles of attack. The idea is based on the fact that a small amount of air is sufficient to change the separation lines on the forebody. As a consequence, the strength and position of the vortices are altered causing a change on the aerodynamic loads. Although a very effective actuator, forebody tangential blowing is also highly non-linear which makes its use for aircraft control very difficult. In this work, the feasibility of using FTB to control the roll-yaw motion of a wind tunnel model was demonstrated both through simulations and experimentally. The wind tunnel model used in the experiments consists of a wing-body configuration incorporating a delta wing with 70-degree sweep angle and a cone-cylinder fuselage. The model is equipped with forebody slots through which blowing is applied. There are no movable control surfaces, therefore blowing is the only form of actuation. Experiments were conducted at a nominal angle of attack of 45 degrees. A unique apparatus that constrains the model to two degrees-of-freedom, roll and yaw, was designed and built. The apparatus was used to conduct dynamic experiments which showed that the system was unstable, its natural motion divergent. A model for the unsteady aerodynamic loads was developed based on the basic physics of the flow and results from flow visualization experiments. Parameters of the aerodynamic model were identified from experimental data. The model was validated using data from dynamic experiments. The aerodynamic model completes the equations of motion of the system which were used in the design of control laws using blowing as the only actuator. The unsteady aerodynamic model was implemented as part of the real-time vehicle control system. A control strategy using asymmetric blowing was demonstrated experimentally. A discrete vortex method was developed to help understand the main physics of the flow. The method correctly captures the interactions between forebody and wing vortices. Moreover, the trends in static loads and flow structure are correctly represented. Flow visualization results revealed the vortical structure of the flow to be asymmetric even for symmetric flight conditions. The effects of blowing, and roll and yaw angles on the flow structure were determined. It is shown that superimposing symmetric and asymmetric blowing has a linearizing effect on the actuator characteristics. Transient responses of roll and yaw moments to step input blowing were characterized, and their differences were explained based on the physical mechanisms through which these loads are generated.

Pedreiro, Nelson↗

Reversal in Spreading of a Tabbed Circular Jet Under Controlled Excitation

Detailed flow field measurements have been carried out for a turbulent circular jet perturbed by tabs and artificial excitation. Two "delta tabs" were placed at the nozzle exit at diametrically opposite locations. The excitation condition involved subharmonic resonance that manifested in a periodic vortex pairing in the near flow field. While the excitation and the tabs independently increased jet spreading, a combination of the two diminished the effect. The jet spreading was most pronounced with the tabs but was reduced when excitation was applied to the tabbed jet. The tabs generated streamwise vortex pairs that caused a lateral spreading of the jet in a direction perpendicular to the plane containing the tabs. The excitation, on the other band, organized the azimuthal vorticity into coherent ring structures whose evolution and pairing also increased entrainment by the jet. In the tabbed case, the excitation produced coherent azimuthal structures that were distorted and asymmetric in shape. The self-induction of these structures produced an effect that opposed the tendency for the lateral spreading of the streamwise vortex pairs. The passage of the distorted vortices, and their pairing, also had a cancellation effect on the time-averaged streamwise vorticity field. These led to the reduction in jet spreading.

Zaman, K. B. M. Q.↗

Reversal in Spreading of a Tabbed Circular Jet Under Controlled Excitation

Detailed flow field measurements have been carried out for a turbulent circular jet perturbed by tabs and artificial excitation. Two "delta tabs" were placed at the nozzle exit at diametricall opposite y locations. The excitation condition involved subharmonic resonance that manifested in a periodic vortex pairing in the near flow field. While the excitation and the tabs independently increased jet spreading, a combination of the two diminished the effect. The jet spreading was most pronounced with the tabs but was reduced when excitation was applied to the tabbed jet. The tabs generated streamwise vortex pairs that caused a lateral spreading of the jet in a direction perpendicular to the plane containing the tabs. ne excitation, on the other hand, organized the azimuthal vorticity into coherent ring structures whose evolution and pairing also increased entrainment by the jet. In the tabbed case, the excitation produced coherent azimuthal structures that were distorted and asymmetric in shape. The self-induction of these structures produced an effect that opposed the tendency for the lateral spreading of the streamwise vortex pairs. The passage of the distorted vortices, and their pairing, also had a cancellation effect on the time-averaged streamwise vorticity field. These led to the reduction in jet spreading.

Zaman, K. B. M. Q.↗

Tropical Cyclone Wind Shear-Relative Asymmetry in Reanalyses

Abstract While tropical cyclones (TCs) are axisymmetric vortices to the first order, they often exhibit noteworthy structural asymmetries. These often result from environmental vertical wind shear, which tilts the vortex and induces a wavenumber 1 pattern in the circulation and precipitation fields. Reanalyses and climate models have improved in representing the TC structure and climatology, but their relatively coarse resolution and dependence on parameterized physics cast doubt on their ability to capture the asymmetric TC structure. We perform the most comprehensive process-oriented assessment of TC asymmetry to date in reanalyses. Specifically, we analyze the composite shear-relative TC structure in ERA5 and Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), which vary in their resolutions, physical parameterization suites, and data assimilation techniques. These structures are compared with aircraft reconnaissance radar observations. In agreement with the observations, the strongest tangential winds are usually found left-of-shear, while inner core rainfall, ascent, vortex tilt, and low-level inflow are favored directly downshear or in the downshear-left quadrant. Outer rainband convection generally peaks in the downshear-right quadrant. Thermodynamic asymmetries are also apparent, with anomalous low-level moisture right-of-shear, midlevel warmth in the upshear-right quadrant (uptilt), and cloud properties suggestive of a realistic precipitation life cycle from growth to fallout. We also decompose rainfall contributions from the convective parameterization and large-scale cloud schemes and highlight the roles of vorticity advection, buoyancy advection, and diabatic processes in driving asymmetric vertical motions in the inner core and outer rainband regions. Our results suggest that process-level studies of TC asymmetry and TC–wind shear interaction under future warming are viable using climate models. Significance Statement Asymmetries are common in tropical cyclones (TCs), influencing their intensity, track, and hazards. Vertical wind shear often plays a leading-order role in causing these asymmetries. It is uncertain how well asymmetric structures and processes are captured in reanalyses and global climate models (GCMs) with grid spacings of 0.25° and coarser. In this study, we first evaluate TC asymmetry in reanalyses, which have the benefit of being forced by observations. This helps to assess whether the resolutions associated with GCMs sufficiently capture asymmetric structures and processes and motivates upcoming work with free-running GCMs to study how TC asymmetry may change in a warming climate.

Carstens, Jacob D.↗

Simulation of Three-Dimensional Symmetric and Asymmetric Instabilities in Attachment-Line Boundary Layers

On a swept wing, contamination along the leading edge, Tollmien-Schlichting waves, stationary or traveling crossflow vortices, and/or Taylor-Gortler vortices can cause the catastrophic breakdown of laminar to turbulent flow, which leads to increased skin-friction drag for the aircraft. The discussion in this Note will be limited to disturbances which evolve along the attachment line (leading edge of swept wing). If the Reynolds number of the attachment-line boundary layer is greater than some critical value, then the complete wing is inevitably engulfed in turbulent flow. Essentially, there are two critical Reynolds number points that must be considered. The first is for small-amplitude disturbances, and the second is for bypass transition. The present study will use direct numerical simulations to validate a linear 2D-eigenvalue prediction method based on parabolized stability equations by Lin and Malik. This method is considered because it suggests that a number of symmetric and asymmetric modes exist and are stable or unstable on the attachment line depending on the Reynolds number. If validated, the approach would predict a number of modes which are linearly damped in the Reynolds number regime 100 to 245; however, these modes may grow nonlinearly and provide an explanation to this region.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

Preliminary results of the on-demand vortex-generator experiments

This is a report on the continuation of our experimental investigations (Saddoughi 1994) of 'on-demand' vortex generators. Conventional vortex generators as found on aircraft wings are mainly for suppression of separation during the off-design conditions. In cruise they perform no useful function and exert a significant drag penalty. Therefore, replacement of fixed rectangular or delta-wing generators by devices that could be activated when needed would be of interest. Also in our previous report, we described one example of an 'on-demand' device, which was developed by Jacobson & Reynolds (1995) at Stanford University, suitable for manufacture by micro-electro-mechanical technology. This device consists of a surface cavity elongated in the stream direction and covered with a lid cantilevered at the upstream end. The lid, which is a metal sheet with a sheet of piezoelectric ceramic bonded to it, lies flush with the boundary. On application of a voltage the ceramic expands or contracts; however, adequate amplitude can be obtained only by running at the cantilever resonance frequency and applying amplitude modulation: for 2.5 mm x 20 mm cantilevered lids, they obtained maximum tip displacements of the order of 100 pm. Thus fluid is expelled from the cavity through the gap around the lid on the downstroke. They used an asymmetrical gap configuration and found that periodic emerging jets on the narrow side induced periodic longitudinal vorticity into the boundary layer. Their device was used to modify the inner layer of the boundary layer for skin-friction reduction. The same method could be implemented for the replacement of the conventional vortex generators; however, to promote mixing and suppress separation we needed to deposit longitudinal vortices into the outer layer of the boundary layer, which required a larger vortex generator than the device built by Jacobson & Reynolds. Our vortex generator was built with a mechanically-driven cantilevered lid with an adjustable frequency. The device was made about ten times the size of Jacobson & Reynolds', the shape or size of the cavity and lid (28 mm x 250 mm) could be easily changed. The cavity depth, the cantilever-tip displacement, and the maximum lid frequency were 20 mm, 10 mm, and 60 Hz respectively. Our vortex generator was mounted on a turntable so that its yaw angle could be changed. Finally, tests over a range of ratios of vortex generator size to boundary-layer thickness could be carried out simply by changing the streamwise location of the device.

Saddoughi, Seyed G.↗

Spreading Characteristics of Compressible Jets from Nozzles of Various Geometries

The spreading characteristics of jets from several asymmetric nozzles, and a set of rectangular orifices are compared, covering a jet Mach number range of 0.3-2.0. The effect of 'tabs' for a rectangular and a round nozzle is also included in the comparison. Compared to a round jet, the jets from the asymmetric nozzles spread only slightly more at subsonic conditions whereas at supersonic conditions, when 'screech' occurs, they spread much more. The dynamics of the azimuthal vortical structures of the jet, organized and intensified under the screeching condition, are thought to be responsible for the observed effect at supersonic conditions. Curiously, the jet from a 'lobed' nozzle spreads much less at supersonic condition compared to all other cases; this is due to the absence of screech with this nozzle. Screech stages inducing flapping, rather than varicose or helical, flow oscillation cause a more pronounced jet spreading. At subsonic conditions, only a slight increase in jet spreading with the asymmetric nozzles contrasts previous observations by others. The present results show that the spreading of most asymmetric jets is not much different from that of a round jet. This inference is further supported by data from the rectangular orifices. In fact, jets from the orifices with small aspect ratio (AR) exhibit virtually no increase in the spreading. A noticeable increase commences only when AR is larger than about 10. Thus, 'shear layer perimeter stretching', achieved with a larger AR for a given cross-sectional area of the orifice, by itself, proves to be a relatively inefficient mechanism for increasing jet spreading. In contrast, the presence of streamwise vortices or 'natural excitation' can cause a significant increase - effects that might explain the observations in the previous investigations. Thus far, the biggest increase in jet spreading is observed with the tabs. This is true in the subsonic regime, as well as in the supersonic regime, in spite of the fact that screech is eliminated by the tabs. The characteristic spreading of the tabbed jets is explained by the induced motion of the tab-generated streamwise vortex pairs. The tabs, however, incur thrust loss; the flow blockage and loss in thrust coefficient, vis-a-vis the spreading increase, are evaluated for various configurations.

Zaman, K. B. M. Q.↗