Investigation of the mixing layer of underexpanded supersonic jets by particle image velocimetry

•Particle image velocimetry is applied to slightly underexpanded supersonic jets.•The jet shock-cell structure and turbulence are investigated in detail.•An influence of the former on the latter is visible at higher Mach numbers.•The estimates of the wideband intrinsic length scales of turbulence are of the order of the shock-cell length. The present experimental study focuses on some properties of the turbulence and the shock-cell structure in underexpanded supersonic jets, which are of practical relevance in air transport. Choked jets at fully expanded Mach numbers Mj=1.10, 1.15, 1.35 and 1.50 are investigated using particle image velocimetry. The strength of the shock-cell structure is studied from mean velocity profiles, both in the jet core and in the mixing layer. The general geometry of the latter and its location relatively to the mean shock-cell structure are established. Furthermore, detailed accounts of mixing layer thickness, turbulence levels, spatial correlations and intrinsic turbulence length scales are given. While the mean velocity variations related to the shock-cell structure extend up to the subsonic part of the studied jets, their mixing layer is found to be mostly located in the subsonic region. Some of the observed turbulence properties, like the mixing layer thickness and turbulence levels, are close to what is found for subsonic jets. The effect of the shock-cell structure on turbulence is however visible for Mj⩾1.35. The spatial correlations of turbulence are used to estimate intrinsic turbulence length scales and these are found to be of the order of the shock-cell length. These data are used to make some comments upon the generation mechanism of shock-associated noise, a noise component produced by imperfectly expanded supersonic jets.