Analysis of turbulence in convergent-divergent nozzles with fluid insert noise reduction technology

The noise generated by tactical fighter aircraft engines is harmful to personnel working in the vicinity of the aircraft and can cause annoyance to communities in the vicinity of air bases. The primary noise sources in supersonic jets are related to the supersonic convection of large-scale turbulent structures, which generate intense noise in the jet downstream direction, and the interaction of the turbulence with the jet’s shock cell structure that results in broadband shock-associated noise, which radiates predominantly in the sideline and upstream directions. The use of fluid inserts in the divergent section of variable area exhaust nozzles has been shown experimentally, at small and moderate scale, to reduce noise radiation from both noise sources. To understand the fluid insert noise reduction mechanisms, a Large Eddy Simulation database is developed and analyzed. The focus is on differences between turbulence properties in a baseline and a fluid insert nozzle. The flow database is analyzed using Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Doak’s Momentum Potential Theory. The latter theory permits the decomposition of the flow into hydrodynamic, thermal and acoustic components. The changes in the acoustic component are related to the observed changes in the radiated noise.