Effect of Nozzle–Plate Distance on Acoustic Phenomena from Supersonic Impinging Jet

Abstract

For an adequate understanding of the broadband acoustic phenomena generated by a rocket exhaust jet impinging on a flame deflector, this study experimentally clarifies the factors that cause the difference in the broadband acoustic field of a supersonic ideally expanded jet impinging on an inclined flat plate for various nozzle–plate distances. According to previous studies, there are two possible factors: the Mach waves, which are radiated from the free-jet region and reflected by the plate, and the acoustic waves generated in the impingement region. To distinguish the effects of these factors, this study compares the following three results: the overall sound pressure level distribution, images extracted from the schlieren visualization movies using acoustic-triggered conditional sampling, and tracing lines of the acoustic intensity vectors of the Mach waves. The results reveal that the nozzle–plate distance affects the fraction of the Mach waves that are generated in the free-jet region and reflected by the plate, resulting in a higher overall sound pressure level in the upstream direction for larger nozzle–plate distances. It is concluded that the location of the plate relative to the source region of the Mach waves significantly affects the acoustic phenomena, owing to the variation in the nozzle–plate distances.