The fundamental nature of the flow oscillations which are generated by two opposing planar jets is investigated. Particular attention is given to the underlying mechanism which sustains the oscillations over a wide range of flow parameters. The jet columns are observed to undergo large lateral deflection oscillations once in each direction per cycle, in an asymmetric manner. Extensive characterization of the jet oscillations over a wide range of flow parameters is established, including both the aeroacoustic response, as well as the unique flow features which are synchronized with the oscillations. The impingement region and circulation regions in each quadrant of the flow field are shown to play essential roles in sustaining the oscillations, as the pressurization of the impingement region causes the jets to initially deflect away from the centerline, while the low-pressure regions which form in the circulation zones drive the jet columns back towards, and ultimately across, the centerline. A number of interesting observations are made regarding the oscillation characteristics, including a dependence of the oscillation frequency on the jet aspect ratio, which helps explain much of the discrepancy in the Strouhal numbers reported in the literature to date. Furthermore, the nature of the sound-source field is investigated including the directionality of the various frequency components which are radiated. Unique mitigation strategies of the opposing planar jet oscillations are also explored by attempting to disrupt the circulation regions through the use of splitter plates. The oscillations are weakened considerably as the development and convection of the circulation zones is impeded. Preventing the circulation flow from interacting with the jet exit region drastically increases the effectiveness of the splitter plates, as even short splitter plates are shown to completely eliminate the oscillations. This demonstrates a very effective mitigation strategy of the opposing planar jet oscillator which is ideal for a variety of practical applications. One of the main challenges of the current investigation into the opposing planar jet oscillator is the extent to which the detailed time-varying pressure field can be resolved. Since it is not possible to experimentally detail the time-varying pressure field of the opposing planar jets, a novel PIV-based pressure field mapping technique is developed and benchmarked. A separate apparatus consisting of a planar jet impinging on a v-shaped plate is utilized to benchmark the proposed technique. This technique effectively resolves the features of the time-varying pressure field which are synchronized with the flow oscillations and helps circumvent many of the challenges which existing PIV pressure field mapping techniques face. It also provides a valuable tool for researchers to simultaneously determine the kinematic and dynamic aspects of various flow phenomena in a variety of fields, especially those in the area of aeroacoustics and fluid-structure-interaction. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Mufflers and silencers are commonly used to attenuate noise sources such as internal combustion engines and HVAC systems. Typically, these environments contain mean flow that can affect the acoustic properties of the muffler components and may produce flow generated noise. To characterize the muffler performance, common metrics such as insertion and transmission loss and noise reduction are used in industry. Though transmission loss without flow is often measured and is a relatively simple bench top experiment and useful for model validation purposes, mean flow can significantly affect the muffler performance. There are a few existing and commercial transmission loss rigs that incorporate flow into the measurement procedure. These rigs are useful for model verification including flow but do not predict how the muffler will perform in the system since the source, termination, and pipe lengths significantly impact performance. In this research, the development of an insertion loss test rig is detailed. This testing strategy has the advantage of being simpler, quantifying the self-generated noise due to flow, and taking into account the effect of tailpipe length and a realistic termination. However, the test does not include the actual source and is not as useful for model validation. An electric blower produces the flow and a silencer quiets the flow. Loudspeakers are positioned just downstream of the flow silencer and they are used as the sound source. The low frequency source is a subwoofer installed in a cylindrical enclosure that includes a conical transition from speaker to pipe. Special care is taken to reduce any flow generated noise. Qualification of the system is detailed by comparing the measured transmission loss, noise reduction, and insertion loss to one-dimensional plane wave models. The results demonstrate that the developed rig should be useful as a muffler evaluation tool after a prototype has been constructed. The rig can also be used for transmission loss and noise reduction determination which will prove beneficial for laboratory testing.

In this thesis, the tonal noise produced by flow over perforated plates at oblique angles of incidence is studied experimentally. A two-dimensional model of a perforated plate is used, where the circular holes of a typical perforated plate are replaced by a series of long rectangular Aluminum slats with an adjustable gap width between them. The slats are 3.175 mm thick and the gap width between them is set to 3.175 mm, 6.35 mm, and 12.7 mm. This simplified model is mounted at the exit of an open-loop wind tunnel and tested at angles of incidence of 0° to 40° and flow velocities of 0 to 30 m/s. An angle of 0° is defined as flow parallel to the plate. The acoustic response is studied using microphone measurements, and flow visualization is done using particle image velocimetry. The effect of the angle of incidence, flow velocity, gap width, and streamwise position are investigated. The flow visualization reveals that tonal noise is produced by the periodic shedding and impingement of vortices at the trailing edge of the gaps. Vortices form in the unstable free shear layer originating at the leading edge of the gap and impinge on the downstream side of the gap. At the downstream corner, these vortices separate into vortex pairs, consisting of one positively rotating and one negatively rotating vortex. These vortices are shed periodically, leading to the production of tonal noise at the shedding frequency. The effect of the angle of incidence is investigated by changing the angle of the plate with respect to the flow. For a given gap width, tones are produced only for a specific range of angles. Depending on the plate geometry, this range of angles is typically around 5° to 30°. Within this range of angles, the free shear layer impinges on the downstream side of the gap. For angles which are too small or too large, the free shear layer misses this downstream side and tones are not produced. For a larger gap width, tones are produced at smaller angles of incidence. Similarly, for a given plate geometry, there is a preferred range of flow velocities at which tonal noise is produced. The velocity at which the free shear layer is the most unstable at the tone frequency produces the strongest vortices and the loudest tones. The optimal velocity is lower for larger gap widths. Finally, it is found that the magnitude of the produced tones increases in the streamwise direction over repeated gaps along the length of the plate. This is due to the local flow conditions changing in the streamwise direction, only reaching the optimal conditions after a certain length of the plate. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

La prédiction des vibrations induites par un écoulement est essentielle dans la conception des conduits de nombreuses installations industrielles, en particulier dans l’industrie du gaz. Notre étude concerne la prévision du bruit et la vibration des conduits soumis à un écoulement turbulent à faible nombre de Mach. Notre objectif est de présenter une étude numérique et expérimentale permettant aux ingénieurs de mieux comprendre le couplage entre l’excitation aléatoire et le conduit pour deux géométries (circulaire ou rectangulaire). Une approche expérimentale est développée et utilisée pour valider les prévisions numériques. Deux cas sont étudiés : (i) un conduit droit sans singularité, où les modes acoustiques du conduit sont excités par une couche limite turbulente (TBL) et (ii) un conduit droit avec un diaphragme inséré en amont qui génère une source acoustique localisée. La contribution acoustique est déterminée soit par des méthodes de mesure d’interspectres, soit à l’aide des outils de mécanique des fluides numérique (CFD) et d’analogies aéroacoustiques. La réponse de la structure est estimée par une approche dite de « couplage faible » qui utilise des fonctions de transfert modale d’un conduit fini simplement appuyé. Les mesures conduiront à évaluer et suggérer des améliorations de modèles empiriques existants de densité interspectrale de puissance (CPSD) dans un contexte d’écoulements internes turbulents. Une analyse modale expérimentale d’un conduit rectangulaire finie est confrontée à des méthodes de calcul pour évaluer l’effet des conditions aux limites, du rayonnement acoustique et de l’amortissement aérodynamique. Le couplage fluide structure est analysé par la fonction de « joint acceptance » à la fois dans le domaine spatial et dans le domaine des nombres d’onde. L’excitation comprend à la fois les contributions acoustiques et hydrodynamiques à l’aide des CPSD exprimées sur la base des fonctions de cohérence de type Corcos, champ diffus et modes acoustiques d’ordre élevé. Enfin, les études numériques et expérimentales de cette thèse ont été utilisées pour développer un cadre d’étude et de modélisation du bruit et des vibrations dans les conduites, qui relie la dynamique des fluides, les modèles analytiques et empiriques à des techniques efficaces d’analyse aléatoire. / Pipeline and duct vibrations can cause a range of issues from unplanned shutdownsto decreased equipment life time. Thus, the prediction of flow-induced vibrations is essential in piping design in many industrial plants, especially, for Gas industry. This study deals with the prediction of pipe flow noise and vibration at low Mach number. We aim to present a numerical and experimental study which can offer engineers a better understanding of the coupling between random excitation and duct section for two geometries (circular or rectangular). An experimental facility and measurement approach is developed and used to validate numerical predictions. Two cases are investigated: (i) a straight duct with no singularity, duct acoustic modes are excited by the Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) and (ii) a straight duct with a diaphragm inserted upstream generating a localized acoustic source. The acoustic contribution is either measured via cross-spectra based methods or calculated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and aeroacoustic analogies. The response of the structure is estimated via a ‘blocked’ approach using analytical modal Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) of a simply supported finite duct. Measurements will lead to evaluate and suggest improvements to existing Cross Power Spectral Density (CPSD) empirical models in a context of internal turbulent flows. Experimental modalanalysis of a finite rectangular duct are confronted to computational methods to assess the effect of the Boundary Conditions (BCs), the resistive damping from coupling with the internal acoustic medium and aerodynamic damping. The fluid-structure coupling is analyzed through the joint acceptance function both in the spatial and wave number domain. The excitation includes both the acoustic and hydrodynamic contributions using CPSD written on the basis of Corcos, Diffuse Acoustic Field (DAF) and acoustic duct mode coherence functions. Finally, the numerical and experimental studies in this thesis were used to develop a framework for studying and modelling pipe flow noise and vibration which links CFD, analytical and empirical models to efficient random analysis techniques.