Supersonic Cavity Flow Research Articles

Supersonic cavity flows over concave and convex walls

Supersonic cavity flows are characterized by compression and expansion waves, shear layer, and oscillations inside the cavity. For decades, investigations into cavity flows have been conducted, mostly with flows at zero pressure gradient entering the cavity in straight walls. Since cavity flows on curved walls exert centrifugal force, the features of these flows are likely to differ from those of straight wall flows. The aim of the present work is to study the flow physics of a cavity that is cut out on a curved wall. Steady and unsteady numerical simulations were carried out for supersonic flow through curved channels over the cavity with L/H = 1. A straight channel flow was also analyzed which serves as the base model. The velocity gradient along the width of the channel was observed to increase with increasing the channel curvature for both concave and convex channels. The pressure on the cavity floor increases with the increase in channel curvature for concave channels and decreases for convex channels. Moreover, unsteady flow characteristics are more dependent on channel curvature under supersonic free stream conditions.

Numerical analysis of characteristic features of shallow and deep cavity in supersonic flow

abstractFlow past open cavities are numerically simulated at a Mach number of 1.5, and Reynolds number, based on initial momentum thickness at the front lip of cavity, of 3333 for variable depths (D) with constant length (L). The dominant frequency of oscillation shows a sudden jump when there is a transition from shallow (L/D > 1) to deep cavity (L/D < 1). The vorticity thickness displays two different growth rates along the length of cavity: (1) initial lower spreading rate, followed by (2) higher spreading rate. The lower spreading rate of shear layer is dictated by the type of cavity (either shallow or deep), while the higher spreading rate is directly related to the amplitude of oscillations. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is implemented to visualise the coherent structures based on their energy content. The first two POD spatial structures in the shallow cavity represent vortex shedding, while in the deep cavity, they comprise vortex pairing interactions as in mixing layer. The higher POD modes contain coherent structures at mixed frequencies. The behaviour of coherent structures associated with a temporal frequency is further investigated using dynamic mode decomposition (DMD). The higher DMD modes confirm the dominance of mixing layer behaviour in the deep cavity.

Numerical investigations on shock oscillations ahead of a hemispherical shell in supersonic flow

A clear understanding of the mechanism responsible for large amplitude shock pulsations ahead of a hemispherical cavity in supersonic flow is presented for the first time in this article. This has applications in supersonic parachute decelerators during the atmospheric descent stage of aerospace vehicles. A cell-centered finite volume code FaSTAR is used to solve the full Navier–Stokes equations on a hemispherical shell facing a Mach 4.0 supersonic free stream. The numerical method is validated against earlier experimental results. First, Flow Configuration A appears consisting of an axisymmetric shock that undergoes low-amplitude oscillations. This flow transitions to Flow Configuration B that has an asymmetric shock structure and undergoes large-amplitude non-stationary shock pulsations. The shock stand-off distance in Flow Configuration B is 1.65 times that in Flow Configuration A. The generation of vortices from the curved shock, amplification of vortices of one kind due to the dynamics of the cavity flow, and further interaction of these amplified vortices with the shock in a loop causes the large-amplitude shock pulsations. The oscillation frequencies as determined from cavity pressure and shock stand-off distance signals extracted from the unsteady results are 1.26 kHz during Flow Configuration A, and 859 and 863 Hz during the non-stationary pulsations of Flow Configuration B. The Helmholtz resonator model predicts quite accurately the frequency of Flow Configuration A (1.27 kHz), and to a good extent the frequency in Flow Configuration B (916.7 Hz).

곡면상에 설치된 열린 공동을 지나는 천음속/초음속 유동에 관한 연구 (I) - 정상 유동의 특성 -

공동유동은 종래 많은 연구가 수행되었으나 대부분의 연구는 공동 상류의 압력구배가 없는 수평면 상에 위치한 공동 유동에 대한 연구가 수행되어 왔으며, 실제 공학적 응용에서 나타나는 곡면 벽상에 위치한 공동 유동에 대한 연구는 거의 수행되지 않고 있다. 일반적으로 곡면 벽상에 위치한 공동유동에는 원심력이 작용하여 종래의 공동 유동 연구결과와 상이한 유동특성을 가질 것으로 판단되나, 이러한 데이터는 지금까지 보고되지 않았다. 본 연구에서는 곡면 벽상에 설치한 공동 유동을 수치해석법으로 조사하여 곡면의 곡률반경 및 유동의 마하수가 천음속 및 초음속 공동유동의 특성에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 그 결과 곡면의 곡률반경이 작아질수록, 유동의 마하수가 증가할수록, 공동내부에서 발생하는 피크압력의 크기는 증가하였으며 공동으로 인한 전압력손실 증가한다는 것을 확인할 수 있다.

Generation of Acoustic Disturbances in Supersonic Laminar Cavity Flows

The generation of acoustic disturbances in supersonic laminar cavity flows is investigated by large-eddy simulations of supersonic laminar flow (M = 1.2, 2.0, and 3.0) past a rectangular cavity with a length-to-depth ratio of 2. Results suggest that well-originated large-scale vortical structures with strong spanwise coherence are present in the shear layer. Compressibility effects have significant impacts on the shear-layer development and the fluctuation properties. The dominant mechanism for the acoustic radiation in supersonic laminar cavity flows is shown to be associated with the successive passage of large-scale vortices over the cavity trailing edge. It is found that Mach waves radiated from the cavity shear layer may have significant contributions for the noiseradiation in terms of enhancing the strength of the feedback compression waves.

Wind Tunnel Study on a Missile with Forward-Facing Cavity in Supersonic Flow

A forward-facing cavity will be composed of the components of a scramjet from inlet to combustion chamber which has a uncovered inlet before the separation of the booster. Longitudinal oscillations are generated within the cavity under some certain flow conditions. Strong oscillations may damage the components of the scramjet, or induce bow-shock oscillations which may cause unsteady loads on the missile and affect the performance of the aerodynamical characteristics. An experimental study of missile model with a scramjet was conducted in a transonic wind tunnel. The characteristics of cavity flow were researched by both the dynamic force measurement and the fluctuation pressure measurement. In the experiments the oscillations within the cavity and the bow-shock in front of the inlet interacted. The oscillations of cavity flow and bow-shock affected the fluctuation pressure and the aerodynamical characteristics of missile remarkably. The amplitude of axial force was higher than the normal force's. The RMS of the fluctuation pressure of some measured place inside the scramjet reached a quarter of the total pressure, and the amplitude of the fluctuation reached half of the total pressure. Those might threaten the safety of the structure of the scramjet.

Passively controlled supersonic cavity flow using a spanwise cylinder

An experimental investigation of a passively controlled open cavity with a length to depth ratio of six and freestream Mach number of 1.4 was conducted to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the observed surface pressure reductions. The passive control comes from placing a spanwise aligned cylinder in the boundary layer near the leading edge of the cavity. The two control configurations were isolated from previous experiments of the fluctuating surface pressure and correspond to a larger diameter rod near the top of the boundary layer and a smaller diameter rod placed near the wall. These were further analyzed using particle image velocimetry in an attempt to elicit the responsible mechanism for the flow control. The use of two-point statistics revealed the wall normal turbulent velocity correlation’s evolution became elongated in the wall normal direction. This suggests that the shear layer may be less-organized and consists of smaller-scale structures. The disturbance of the feedback receptivity loop is clearly demonstrated for the controlled configurations evidenced by weakened correlation signals between the aft wall sensor and positions on the cavity floor. The presence of the rod is shown to decrease the mean shear gradient, more effectively for the large rod placed at the top of the boundary layer, throughout the shear layer. The efficacy of the control leads to an initially thicker shear layer which spreads more rapidly and is clearly demonstrated by vorticity growth rates, mean, and turbulent flowfield statistics.

Partially-Averaged Navier–Stokes Simulations of High-Speed Mixing Environment

Accurate simulation of the fuel-air mixing environment is crucial for high-fidelity scramjet calculations. We compute the velocity fields of jet into supersonic freestream flow and cavity flow typical of scramjet flame-holding applications at different scale resolutions using the partially-averaged Navier–Stokes (PANS) method. We present a sequence of variable resolution computations to demonstrate the potential of PANS method for high-speed mixing environment calculations.

A LES Study on Passive Mixing in Supersonic Shear Layer Flows Considering Effects of Baffle Configuration

Under the background of dual combustor ramjet (DCR), a numerical investigation of supersonic mixing layer was launched, focused on the mixing enhancement method of applying baffles with different geometric configurations. Large eddy simulation with high order schemes, containing a fifth-order hybrid WENO compact scheme for the convective flux and sixth-order compact one for the viscous flux, was utilized to numerically study the development of the supersonic mixing layer. The supersonic cavity flow was simulated and the cavity configuration could influence the mixing characteristics, since the impingement process of large scale structures formed inside the cavity could raise the vorticity and promote the mixing. The effect of baffle's configurations on the mixing process was analyzed by comparing the flow properties, mixing efficiency, and total pressure loss. The baffle could induce large scale vortexes, promote the mixing layer to lose its stability easily, and then lead to the mixing efficiency enhancement. However, the baffle could increase the total pressure loss. The present investigation could provide guidance for applying new passive mixing enhancement methods for the supersonic mixing.

Numerical study on supersonic mixing and combustion with hydrogen injection upstream of a cavity flameholder

Characteristics of supersonic mixing and combustion with hydrogen injection upstream of a cavity flameholder are investigated numerically using hybrid RANS/LES (Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes/Large-Eddy Simulation) method. Two types of inflow boundary layer are considered. One is a laminar-like boundary layer with inflow thickness of $$\delta_{\inf } = 0.0$$ and the other is a turbulent boundary layer with inflow thickness of $$\delta_{\inf } = 2.5\,{\text{mm}}$$ . The hybrid RANS/LES method acts as a DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) model for the laminar-like inflow condition and a wall-modeled LES for the turbulent inflow condition where the recycling/rescaling method is adopted. Although the turbulent inflow seems to have just minor influences on the supersonic cavity flow without fuel injection, its effects on the mixing and combustion processes are great. It is found that the unsteady turbulent structures in upstream incoming boundary layer interact with the injection jet, resulting in fluctuations of the upstream recirculation region and bow shock, and induce quick dispersion of the hydrogen fuel jet, which enhances the mixing as well as subsequent combustion.

Improvement and application of wall function boundary condition for high-speed compressible flows

In order to develop a wall function boundary condition for high-speed flows so as to reduce the grid-dependence of the simulation for the skin friction and heat flux, a research was performed to improve the compressible wall function boundary condition proposed by Nichols. Values of parameters in the velocity law-of-the-wall were revised according to numerical experiments and the expression of temperature law-of-the-wall was modified based on theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Besides, the formula of the heat conduction term in near-wall region was derived so that the coupling between the wall function boundary condition and CFD code was realized more accurately. Whereafter, the application study of the modified wall function was carried out. The numerical case of supersonic turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate illustrated that the modified wall function produces reasonable results of skin friction and heat flux, and profiles of velocity, temperature and turbulent eddy viscosity for coarse grids with the initial wall spacing of y+<400, and that the modifications to the original wall function can obviously improve the simulation precision. As for the application of separation flows, it was found from the numerical cases of supersonic cavity flow and hypersonic axisymmetric compression corner that the compressible velocity law-of-the-wall originally established based on the fully-developed attached turbulent boundary layer approximately holds in the near-wall region inside the separation flows, which ensures that reliable skin friction and heat flux can be given by the wall function inside the separation flows, while for the region near separation and reattachment points, the wall function gives results with a relatively large error, because the velocity law-of-the-wall used in the wall function takes on obvious deviation from the real velocity profiles near the separation and reattachment points.

Effectiveness of jet location on mixing characteristics inside a cavity in supersonic flow

The incorporation of cavities within supersonic combustion chambers is an effective means of slowing down the flow for fuel injection and consequent stable combustion. Understanding the flow physics associated with such flows, especially with the injection of a gas to replicate fuel injection, are essential for the optimum design of supersonic propulsion mechanisms. An experimental investigation was performed on a rectangular open cavity with upstream injection model in a Mach number of 1.9 using a trisonic indraft wind tunnel. A rectangular open cavity of dimensions L/D=5, 100mm in length (L) and 20mm deep (D), was adopted, and it was embedded into the lower wall of the test section. An air jet with a jet-to-freestream momentum flux ratio of J=1.2, 2.7 and 5.3 was injected upstream of the cavity. To evaluate the effect on mixing and flow stability the jet position, measured from the front edge of the cavity, was varied between 0.1L and 1L. The flow field was visualized using schlieren photography, particle image velocimetry, and oil flow measurements. It is found that the mixing characteristic within the cavity when the jet is positioned 0.1L is enhanced independent on the J value because the turbulence intensity of the flow velocity within the cavity is strongly influenced by the jet interaction which lifted the flow from the floor of the cavity compared to the other jet positions. However, the flow over the cavity is unstable at all jet positions. The separation shock formed at the front edge of the cavity oscillates significantly for the case where the jet is located at 0.1L because the separation shock location coincides with the compression shock behind the jet.

On the feedback mechanism in supersonic cavity flows

Self-sustained oscillations in supersonic cavity flows are investigated by implicit large-eddy simulations of a supersonic flow (M∞ = 2.0, ReD = 105) past a three-dimensional rectangular cavity with length-to-depth ratio of 2. Both turbulent and laminar inflows are considered, and a variation of boundary-layer thickness in the turbulent inflow case is conducted. An additional simulation of turbulent free shear layer is also performed to illustrate the relationship between shedding vortices and acoustic excitations. Feedback mechanism is identified as the dominant mechanism driving the self-sustained oscillations in supersonic open cavity flows, regardless of the upstream turbulent state and the boundary-layer thickness. The generation of discrete vortices in the cavity shear layer is shown to be highly associated with acoustic excitations rather than natural instabilities of the cavity shear layer. Simulation results support that the primary noise source arises from the successive passage of large-scale vortices over the cavity trailing edge. The effects of upstream boundary layer on the shear-layer characteristics and acoustic fields will also be discussed.

Numerical Laser Energy Deposition on Supersonic Cavity Flow and Sensor Placement Strategies to Control the Flow

In this study, the impact of laser energy deposition on pressure oscillations and relative sound pressure levels (SPL) in an open supersonic cavity flow is investigated. Laser energy with a magnitude of 100 mJ is deposited on the flow just above the cavity leading edge and up to 7 dB of reduction is obtained in the SPL values along the cavity back wall. Additionally, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method is applied to the x-velocity data obtained as a result of computational fluid dynamics simulations of the flow with laser energy deposition. Laser is numerically modeled using a spherically symmetric temperature distribution. By using the POD results, the effects of laser energy on the flow mechanism are presented. A one-dimensional POD methodology is applied to the surface pressure data to obtain critical locations for the placement of sensors for real time flow control applications.

Characteristics of Oscillations in Supersonic Open Cavity Flows

Characteristics of oscillations in supersonic open cavity flows are investigated numerically using hybrid RANS/LES (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes/Large Eddy Simulation) method. The oscillation regimes and feedback mechanisms for the supersonic cavity flows are identified and analyzed. The calculation captures a mixed shear-layer/wake oscillation mode in the flow of Ma = 1.75, where these two modes occur alternately. The shear-layer mode and wake mode are driven by vortex convection-acoustic feedback and absolute instability, respectively. In particular, the results indicate that the feedback-acoustic-wave in the shear-layer mode is probably generated by the reflection of the downstream-traveling pressure wave, associated with the shed vortex in the shear layer, on the aft wall. The cavity flow of Ma = 2.52 is then simulated to see the influence of Mach number. It is found that the increase of Mach number may decrease the amplitude of the fluctuations in the shear layer, inhibiting the transition to wake mode. Furthermore, the influence of upstream injection is also studied, where the results show that the injection only weakens the oscillations and faintly shifts the resonant frequencies.

A Review of Control Methods for Cavity Flows and Feasibility of Laser Energy Deposition as an Actuator

Studies related to supersonic cavity flow are very important for aeronautics applications. Understanding the physics of cavity flows is crucial for both fluid mechanics and engineering applications. Supersonic cavity flow and control techniques for this type of flow have been studied for many decades. A review of literature on numerical and experimental cavity flow is provided and the flow mechanism inside the cavity is explained using example studies from literature. It is necessary to understand the complex nature of the flow before developing control methods for the cavity flow oscillations. The literature on the development of methods to control the flow oscillations in cavities which are harmful for aircraft is also reviewed. Feasibility of laser energy deposition as an actuator for flow control is investigated demonstrating examples from literature.

Leading edge slot blowing on an open cavity in supersonic flow

Supersonic flow over an open cavity can create intense pressure loads on the surfaces within the cavity. In order to combat these loads, the development of a control scheme to reduce them is becoming increasingly important for many engineering applications. The present study implements steady leading edge blowing through various configurations of spanwise-aligned rectangular leading edge slots. The effects of this control on the flow field were examined to determine the suppression mechanisms exploited by the leading edge blowing. The cavity studied here had a length-to-depth ratio of 6 and was placed in a freestream flow with a Mach number of 1.4. Actuators with one continuous slot and three and five segmented slots spanning the width of the cavity were installed at the leading edge. Surface pressure reductions of nearly 45% were achieved on the aft wall of the cavity using the 5-slot configuration. Velocity field measurements acquired through 2-component (streamwise-aligned measurement plane) and 3-component stereoscopic (cross-stream-aligned measurement plane) particle image velocimetry revealed the presence of streamwise-aligned vortices created by the segmented slots. These act to significantly alter the shear layer formed at the mouth of the cavity creating highly three-dimensional flow field features.

The art and science of flow control – case studies using flow visualization methods

Active flow control (AFC) has been the focus of significant research in the last decade. This is mainly due to the potentially substantial benefits it affords. AFC applications range from the subsonic to the supersonic (and beyond) regime for both internal and external flows. These applications are wide and varied, such as controlling flow transition and separation over various external components of the aircraft to active management of separation and flow distortion in engine components and over turbine and compressor blades. High-speed AFC applications include control of flow oscillations in cavity flows, supersonic jet screech, impinging jets, and jet-noise control. In this paper we review some of our recent applications of AFC through a number of case studies that illustrate the typical benefits as well as limitations of present AFC methods. The case studies include subsonic and supersonic canonical flowfields such as separation control over airfoils, control of supersonic cavity flows and impinging jets. In addition, properties of zero-net mass-flux (ZNMF) actuators are also discussed as they represent one of the most widely studied actuators used for AFC. In keeping with the theme of this special issue, the flowfield properties and their response to actuation are examined through the use of various qualitative and quantitative flow visualization methods, such as smoke, shadowgraph, schlieren, planar-laser scattering, and Particle image velocimetry (PIV). The results presented here clearly illustrate the merits of using flow visualization to gain significant insight into the flow and its response to AFC.

Supersonic aerodynamics of a projectile with slot cavities

AbstractThis paper presents the results of experimental and computational investigations on the effect of slot cavities on a supersonic projectile. Experimental work was carried out to show the effects of the slots on the drag at Mach numbers M = 1·36, 1·65, 1·83. The computational analysis was done at M = 1·36. A single configuration of the slot pattern was used with two different slot widths (0·5mm and 2·0mm). Flow features were investigated in the slotted area and at the base. The analysis presented includes the pressure distribution, the supersonic cavity flow and the effect of the slots on the overall aerodynamic drag. Unlike the case of slots at transonic speeds, the suction and blowing mechanism is not found at supersonic Mach numbers. Streamwise cavity slots cause a small base drag reduction. The reduction in total drag is modest when the width is 0·5mm. However, the experiments showed that with the wider slots (2mm) the drag actually increases at Mach numbers from 1·36 to 1·83.

508 超音速キャビティ流れの振動周波数予測方法の提案と実験的検証(GS 流体工学II)

508 超音速キャビティ流れの振動周波数予測方法の提案と実験的検証(GS 流体工学II)