Coherent Structures in Subsonic Jets: A Quasi-Irrotational Source Mechanism?

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Abstract
The true global source of the farfield sound radiated from a subsonic jet is the entire dynamic found within the confines of the hydrodynamic field, a dynamic which comprises an unsteady compressive excitation of the medium resulting from turbulent mixing and unsteady temperature fluctuations, these being driven by a wide range of turbulence scales. Improved understanding, and subsequent modelling of the space-time character of the global source term has been acheived in the past through study of the different physical mechanisms implicated in its dynamic. The phenomena which have to date been accepted as important in terms of the radiated sound are (i) turbulent mixing and shear, (ii) fluctuating entropy, (iii) convective amplification and (iv) refraction and scattering of sound by the mean and turbulent components of the velocity field. Once identified as important, specific modelling strategies can and have been developed in order to deal with these phenomena. The existence of coherent structures in turbulent jets was identified as important in the 1970's and their role in the production of sound has received considerable attention in more recent years. However, direct identification of the causal link between this component of the turbulence and its sound field is a delicate matter due to the virtual impossibility of directly measuring the source dynamic of the flow, this being due to an overwhelming dominance of hydrodynamic energy in the source region, and a total absence of any hydrodynamic signature in the linear, acoustic region. As a result, modelling strategies where this component of the source term is concerned have remained, at best, highly empirical.

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