Jan-Niklas Hau

A comparative numerical analysis of linear and nonlinear aerodynamic sound generation by vortex disturbances in homentropic constant shear flows

Aerodynamic sound generation in shear flows is investigated in the light of the breakthrough in hydrodynamics stability theory in the 1990s, where generic phenomena of non-normal shear flow systems were understood. By applying the thereby emerged short-time/non-modal approach, the sole linear mechanism of wave generation by vortices in shear flows was captured [G. D. Chagelishvili, A. Tevzadze, G. Bodo, and S. S. Moiseev, “Linear mechanism of wave emergence from vortices in smooth shear flows,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3178-3181 (1997); B. F. Farrell and P. J. Ioannou, “Transient and asymptotic growth of two-dimensional perturbations in viscous compressible shear flow,” Phys. Fluids 12, 3021-3028 (2000); N. A. Bakas, “Mechanism underlying transient growth of planar perturbations in unbounded compressible shear flow,” J. Fluid Mech. 639, 479-507 (2009); and G. Favraud and V. Pagneux, “Superadiabatic evolution of acoustic and vorticity perturbations in Couette flow,” Phys. Rev. E 89, 033012 (2014)]. Its source is the non-normality induced linear mode-coupling, which becomes efficient at moderate Mach numbers that is defined for each perturbation harmonic as the ratio of the shear rate to its characteristic frequency. Based on the results by the non-modal approach, we investigate a two-dimensional homentropic constant shear flow and focus on the dynamical characteristics in the wavenumber plane. This allows to separate from each other the participants of the dynamical processes — vortex and wave modes — and to estimate the efficacy of the process of linear wave-generation. This process is analyzed and visualized on the example of a packet of vortex modes, localized in both, spectral and physical, planes. Further, by employing direct numerical simulations, the wave generation by chaotically distributed vortex modes is analyzed and the involved linear and nonlinear processes are identified. The generated acoustic field is anisotropic in the wavenumber plane, which results in highly directional linear sound radiation, whereas the nonlinearly generated waves are almost omni-directional. As part of this analysis, we compare the effectiveness of the linear and nonlinear mechanisms of wave generation within the range of validity of the rapid distortion theory and show the dominance of the linear aerodynamic sound generation. Finally, topological differences between the linear source term of the acoustic analogy equation and of the anisotropic non-normality induced linear mechanism of wave generation are found.

On the optimal systems of subalgebras for the equations of hydrodynamic stability analysis of smooth shear flows and their group-invariant solutions

We present a unifying solution framework for the linearized compressible equations for two-dimensional linearly sheared unbounded flows using the Lie symmetry analysis. The full set of symmetries that are admitted by the underlying system of equations is employed to systematically derive the one- and two-dimensional optimal systems of subalgebras, whose connected group reductions lead to three distinct invariant ansatz functions for the governing sets of partial differential equations (PDEs). The purpose of this analysis is threefold and explicitly we show that (i) there are three invariant solutions that stem from the optimal system. These include a general ansatz function with two free parameters, as well as the ansatz functions of the Kelvin mode and the modal approach. Specifically, the first approach unifies these well-known ansatz functions. By considering two limiting cases of the free parameters and related algebraic transformations, the general ansatz function is reduced to either of them. This f...

Acoustic wave propagation in a temporal evolving shear-layer for low-Mach number perturbations

We study wave packets with the small perturbation/gradient Mach number interacting with a smooth shear-layer in the linear regime of small amplitude perturbations. In particular, we investigate the temporal evolution of wave packets in shear-layers with locally curved regions of variable size using non-modal linear analysis and direct numerical simulations of the two-dimensional gas-dynamical equations. Depending on the wavenumber of the initially imposed wave packet, three different types of behavior are observed: (i) The wave packet passes through the shear-layer and constantly transfers energy back to the mean flow. (ii) It is turned around (or reflected) within the sheared region and extracts energy from the base flow. (iii) It is split into two oppositely propagating packages when reaching the upper boundary of the linearly sheared region. The conducted direct numerical simulations confirm that non-modal linear stability analysis is able to predict the wave packet dynamics, even in the presence of no...

Sound Generation in Plane Couette Flow: A Failure of Lighthill’s Analogy

The linearmechanism of acoustic wave generation by initially pure vortex perturbations embedded in a two-dimensional, inviscid and unboundedCouette flow is investigated by Kelvin-mode analysis and direct numerical simulations (DNS). Our results show a misleading representation of the linear sources of aerodynamic sound generation by Lighthill’s acoustic analogy approach, not taking the strong anisotropy of the linear generation of acoustic waves by pure vortex mode perturbations in non-normal shear flow systems into account. DNS confirm the importance of linear sound production in the range of validity of rapid distortion theory (RDT), herein being superior compared to the nonlinear mechanism despite the common opinion.