Observation of energy cascade creating periodic shock waves in a resonator

Nonlinear excitation of periodic shock waves in high-amplitude standing waves was studied from measurements of the acoustic intensity. A gas column of atmospheric air in a cylindrical resonator was driven sinusoidally by an oscillating piston at the fundamental resonance frequency. Acoustic pressure and axial acoustic particle velocity were simultaneously measured and decomposed into the Fourier components, from which the intensity associated with each of the oscillating modes in the resonator was determined. This letter reports the energy cascade from the driven mode to the second harmonic in the periodic shock waves in the resonator.