A laboratory scale piezoelectric array for underwater measurements of the fluctuating wall pressure beneath turbulent boundary layers

Abstract

To capture the full spectrum of the fluctuating wall pressure beneath a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) provides a unique challenge in transducer design. This paper discusses the design, construction and testing of an array of surface-mounted piezoelectric ceramic elements with the goal of having both the spatial resolution and the frequency bandwidth to accurately sense the low-frequency, low-wavenumber events beneath a TBL at moderately low Reynolds numbers. The array is constructed from twenty 1.27 cm tall prismatic rods with 0.18 cm × 0.16 cm cross-section made of Navy type II piezoelectric ceramic material. Calibration was performed by comparing the response of a Navy H56 precision-calibrated hydrophone to the outputs of each element on the array for a given input from a Navy J9 projector. The elements show an average sensitivity of −184 dB (re: 1 V μPa−1) and are assembled with a centre-to-centre spacing of 0.2 cm. Measurements of the fluctuating wall pressure below a 2d TBL with Reynolds numbers (based on momentum thickness) ranging from 2100 to 4300 show that the dimensions of the elements are between 64 and 107 viscous length units, respectively. A spatial and temporal footprint of the fluctuating wall pressure reveals convective speeds averaging 75% of the free stream velocity.