Supersonic Jet Mixing Enhancement By

Vortex Generations

K. Zaman
NASA Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, OH

AIAA/SAE/ASM E/ASE E
27th Joint Propulsion Conference
~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~

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 AIM-91-2263-CP
SUPERSONIC JET MIXING ENHANCEMENT
BY VORTEX GENERATORS
M. Samimy’, K.B.M.Q. Zaman2, and M.F. Reeder3
’,’ Ohio State University, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Columbus, Ohio 43210
’ NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135
ABSTRACT
perceived noise decibels) without
Experiments were conducted to paying substantial performance
explore the effects of vortex penalty (Seiner and Krejsa,
generators, in the form of tabs 1989). Enhancing mixing in a
projecting normally into the jet, hypersonic airbreathing vehicle
on the mixing and the far-field is desirable for obvious reasons
noise characteristics of a jet. A but is a technological challenge
converging-diverging nozzle with because experiments have shown
a design Mach number of 1.36 was that the growth rate and the
used in the experiments. The flow turbulence levels in a supersonic
regimes from subsonic to highly mixing layer are significantly
underexpanded supersonic reduced as the compressibility
conditions were studied. One, level is increased (Papamoschou
two, and four tabs were used and and Roshko, 1988 and Elliott and
some of the findings of previous Samimy, 1990). The underlying
investigators were examined and process in both cases is the
confirmed. The tabs eliminated supersonic mixing process which
screech noise from moderately must be well understood and
overexpanded cases to highly controlled. Many original and
underexpanded cases. Detailed review articles have been
flow visualizations and published on both topics
measurements showed that two tabs mentioned above (see the cited
bifurcated the jet at all Mach references).
i
numbers. While the effect of two This paper is concerned with
tabs was persistent and the jet the effect of vortex generators
remained bifurcated, the (in the form of tabs projecting
distortions produced by one and into the flow at the exit plane
four tabs disappeared by a of the nozzle) on the mixing
streamwise distance of process in an originally
approximately 16 jet diameters. axisymmetric supersonic jet.
TWO and four tabs significantly Bradbury and Khadem (1975)
increased the entrainment of studied the effect of square tabs
ambient air into the jet. on the evolution of a subsonic
jet. They found a significant
reduction in the jet core,
1. Introduction followed by a significant
increase in the centerline
The problem of supersonic flow velocity decay, when two tabs
mixing is pertinent in many were located diagonally at the
technological applications and exit of the jet. Four or eight
has been the subject of numerous tabs were not as effective as two
studies for many years. Within tabs. They also showed that there
the past few years, engineers and were two high velocity cores on
scientists have faced two major both sides of the centerline on a
challenges in this area. The plane normal to the plane of the
first is the challenge of two tabs.
reducing supersonic jet noise in
the high speed civil transport Tanna (1977) used a convergent
(HSCT) plane and the second is nozzle with what he called a “lip
the challenge of designing an projection“ to reduce the screech
efficient propulsion system for a noise in an underexpanded flow.
hypersonic airbreathing vehicle. In an underexpanded jet from
_, The jet noise level in the HSCT either a convergent nozzle or a
plane must be reduced by convergent-divergent nozzle and
approximately 20 EPNdB (effective in an overexpanded jet from a
(:orwighi @ 1991 American Inrfilufe of Aeronauticc and
~ \ S l r O n a u l k r . l l l c . Ail right3 reserved.
1
converging-diverging nozzle,
three types of noise can be
identified (Tanna. 1977 and
seiner and Krejsa, 1989): (1) the
jet mixing noise which is due to
turbulent mixing in both subsonic
and supersonic jets, ( 2 ) the
broadband shock noise which is
generated by the interaction of
shock waves and large scale
turbulence in the mixing region
of the jet, and (3) the screech
noise which is generated when a
closed loop acoustic feedbacK is
established between the noise
generated by tne shock wave/large
scale structures interaction and
the developing region of the
mixing layer. Tanna used the
combination of the projected lips
and the wrapping of the nozzle
face with a sound absorbing
material to eliminate the screech
noise. The narrowband fundamental
frequency of the screech noise is
within the broadband shock noise
frequency range. Tanna eliminated
the screech noise in order to
study the broadband shock noise.
Glass (1968) used a sound
reflecting or a sound absorbing
surface inclined to the axis of a
supersonic jet to alter the
acoustic feedback and the initial
mixing layer interaction. He
showed significant impact of this
interaction on the jet spread
rate. Nagel, et a1 (1983) used a
sound reflecting surface upstream
of a supersonic jet exit and
eliminated screech noise by the
proper positioning of the surface
and as a result canceling the
upstream propagating acoustic
wave. various nozzle geometries
and the nozzle exit flow
conditions have also been used by
other researchers for noise
reduction and mixing enhancement
purposes (e.g. Norum, 1983,
Wlezien and Kibens, 1966,
Naugton, et al, 1989, Gutmark, et
al, 1990, Yamamoto, et al, 1990;
also see the Review paper by
Seiner and Kresja, 1989).
Ahuja and Brown (1989) studied
in detail the effects of tab size
and the number of tabs on the
supersonic jet mixing and screech
noise reduction. Using pressure
and acoustic measurements and
Schlieren photography, they
showed that the tabs of certain
sizes significantly change the
jet mixing and noise
characteristics. They also showed
that the effects of two tabs were
2
stronger than those of 1, 3, 4,
and 8 tabs. It should be
mentioned that using means such
as small vortex generators and
others in two dimensional v
supersonic flows has not shown
any major increase in the mixing
rate (Papamoschou, 1969 and Shau
and Dolling, 1989, and Samimy, et
al, 1989). Mixing enhancement in
the two dimensional case has been
reported using splitter plate
with large lobes at the trailing
edge of the splitter plate
generating strong streamwise
vortices (Tillman and Patterson,
1989). This type of configuration
will introduce a significant
thrust loss in a propulsive
device. Therefore, this type of
configuration will be more useful
in an ejector type configuration
where the gain in the entrainment
and mixing enhancement will
perhaps counter balance the
thrust loss. A recent paper by
Clemens and Mungal (1991) shows a
significant distortion of a two-
dimensional compressible mixing
layer by shock waves generated at
the side walls of the tunnel.
In the present study, we have
used tabs in an axisymmetric jet
and have followed the dimensions L/
that ahuja and Brown (1969) found
to produce the best results. The
goal was first to confirm the
effects of the tabs on the
centerline velocity decay and the
acoustic field, then to
investigate the effects on the
flowfield. The experimental
arrangements and techniques are
discussed in Section 2 . The
experimental results are
discussed in Section 3 and the
conclusions in section 4 .
2. Experimental Arranuements and
Technisues
A small scale supersonic jet
facility was set up at NASA Lewis
Research Center. Dry air at
approximatelyambienttemperature
and 680 kPa (100 psi) was
supplied to the facility. A
converging-diverging nozzle with
the design Mach number of 1.36
and the throat diameter of 6.35
mm (1/4 inch) was designed using
the method of characteristics.
Figure 1 shows a tab at the exit L
plane of the nozzle. The design
of the tabs followed after Ahuja
 and Browns' (1989). The blockage
due to each tab is approximately
1.5%.
L about 207 K ( - 6 6 'C).
0.05D
T
0.15D
0.08D 1-
1 4 0.03D
Fig. 1 Schematic of a tab at a nozzle
exit and dimensions of a tab.
A standard pitot-tube was used
to measure the stagnation
pressure at various locations in
the jet. A special static
pressure probe was constructed
based on the design of Seiner and
Norum (1979), and used to measure
the static pressure at the
centerline of the jet. Two 114
inch B L K microphones were used
to measure the far-field sound
pressure spectra and to get some
idea about the screech noise. The
microphones were located at the
exit plane of the nozzle, 90-
degree from each other, and 135
jet exit diameters from the jet
exit. A single-wire hot wire was
used to obtain power spectra,
mean velocity, and rms turbulence
A
fluctuations when the jet was
operating in low subsonic
regimes.
3
An argon laser based standard
Schlieren system was used for
flow visualizations. A gated
double-intensified CCD camera was
used with the Schlieren system.
The images were recorded on a
super VHS videotape. Both short
exposure images with an exposure
time of 2 0 ns, almost freezing
the flow, and long exposure
images were obtained. Mie-
scattering based planar flow
visualizations were carried out
by using the 4-W argon laser and
the CCD camera. The air supplied
to the jet was dry air at a
temperature of approximately 3 0 0
K. When the air expanded to Mach
1.5, for example, from this
stagnation temperature of 300 K ,
the static temperature dropped to
present experiments, the jet
In the
issued into the laboratory and
entrained the ambient air into
the mixing region. The
temperature of the ambient air
dropped while mixing with the
cold jet air and caused the
moisture in the entrained air to
condense. The condensed water
particles were the light
scattering sources for the laser
sheet lighting visualizations. A
similar visualization technique
has also been used by Fourguette,
et a1 (1990). As was the case for
the Schlieren photography
technique, both long and short
exposure images were obtained in
the laser sheet lighting
experiments. Even though the
condensation would occur for the
jet Mach numbers of greater than
about 0.5, the number density of
Scattering particles for the
subsonic jet cases was
insufficient to produce
reasonable images. For one low
subsonic case, atomized water
particles were injected into the
settling chamber for the laser
sheet flow visualization.
3. Results and Discussions
screech Noise Results
The far-field noise was
measured at the nozzle exit plane
135 jet exit diameter from the
jet axis. Figure 2 shows the
noise spectra for the 1-, 2-, and
4-tab cases in comparison with
the natural jet case for an
underexpanded jet, Mi = 1.63. The
 in the natural jet case. The
tabs were symmetrically located elimination of screech noise in
at the jet exit plane for the 2- 2- and 4-tab cases is similar to
and 4-tab cases. The noise Ahuja and Brown's results (1989).
spectra were measured at two
azimuthal angles ($) with respect
The effect is clearly prominent v
with four tabs. The overall sound
to a tab location (@=O). Fig. 2 pressure level (SPL) drop in the
shows data for @ = 0 and 90' for 4-tab case is about 6.5 db while
the 1- and 2-tab cases and = 0 the drop in the 1- and 2-tab
and 45' for the 4-tab case. The cases is approximately 1 to 3 db
tabs eliminated both the screech depending upon the plane of
noise and the harmonic present measurements. Another important
point to notice is that while
there is a significant drop in
120. the SPL in the lower frequency
a range and a small change in the
high frequency range in the 4-tab
case, there is a shift in SPL
from lower frequency to higher
frequency in 1- and 2-tab cases.
In a practical case, if this
shift is from audible to
ultrasonic range, it would be
almost as effective as the
elimination/reduction of the
noise (seiner and Krejsa, 1989).
While the tabs were very
effective in reducing screech
noise in all the underexpanded

110. 1 I t jet cases investigated here, this

was not the case in the
overexpanded regime. Figure 3a
shows an overexpanded case with
very low nozzle exit pressure v
(nozzle exit pressure/ambient
pressure, P,/P,=O.54) where two
tabs did eliminate the high
frequency components of screech
but only slightly down-shifted
eo. p
0.
,
26. 46. SA. e . the low frequency components. As
F = a < (*H.)
the pressure ratio increased
120.
toward the nozzle design pressure
ratio, the tabs became more
effective. Figure 3b shows the
results for Pe/Pa=0.66 where all
components of the screech noise
were eliminated using two tabs. A
possible reason for this behavior
could be the boundary layer
separation in highly overexpanded
cases. In the overexpanded cases
with low exit pressure, the
boundary layer under significant
adverse pressure gradient may
separate just before exiting the
nozzle. As the exit pressure
Fig. 2 Far-field sound pressure spectra increases toward the design
for M,=l.63 jet with tabs: (a) 1-tab, (b) pressure, the adverse pressure
2-tab, (c) 4-tab; -
no-tab; --- gradient decreases resulting in a
...
@=45',
+90°,
4-tab.
1- and 2-tab; +=o,
+=0,
--- ... weaker or no separation and the
tabs become more effective.

4

9s.
75.
55. I
0. 4 . 8 .
85.
65.
Freq ( k H z )
Fig. 3 Far-field sound pressure spectra
for an overexpanded jet:
(a) P,/P,= 0.54; (b) P,/Pa=0.66; - no-
tab; --- $=O, 2-tab; ...
@=goo, 2-tab.
Pressure Results
A standard 0.76 mm (0.03 in.)
pitot-probe was used to measure
the stagnation pressure on the
centerline of the jet at various
operating conditions. In the
supersonic region of the jet, the
measured stagnation pressure, Po2,
corresponds to the stagnation
pressure behind the standing bow
shock in front of the probe. In
order to calculate the local Mach
number and determine the effect
of tabs on the centerline Mach
number decay, one needs to
measure, besides Poz, either the
static pressure before, P , , or
the static pressure after the
shock wave, P2. In an
overexpanded or an underexpanded
supersonic jet, there is a
5
complex shock wave/expansion wave
system and it is not an easy task
to measure either P, or p2. A
double-cone static pressure probe
following the design of Seiner
and Norum (1979) was fabricated
and used for the centerline
static pressure measurements.
Even though the centerline static
pressure is measured, there is an
uncertainty as to the exact axial
location of the measurement.
However, one can argue that the
local minimums of P, and Poz
should coincide. Based on this
criterion and the measured P, and
Poz we calculated the local
centerline Mach number. It should
be emphasized that this is only
an approximate technique.
Figure 4 shows the centerline
Mach number for the natural jet
and the 2-tab cases for five
operating conditions. The effect
of tabs on the centerline Mach
number decay is apparent in all
nozzle operating conditions from
subsonic to strongly
underexpanded cases. This
conclusion can also be inferred
from Po2 results which are
directly measured but not shown
here (see Samimy, et al, 1991).
For subsonic case (Fig. 4a), the
jet core is reduced by more than
a factor of 3 similar to the
finding of Bradbury and Khadem
(1975). The length of the
shock/expansion train is
significantly reduced, by the
tabs, in both the over- and the
underexpanded cases. For the
underexpanded cases, the effect
of tabs is similar to the results
of Ahuja and Brown (1989). It
should be noted that the decay of
the centerline Mach number as
shown Figure 4 is not a good
measure of mixing enhancement. As
will be shown later by flow
visualizations, two tabs
bifurcate the jet and as a result
there are two high velocity cores
one on each side of the jet
centerline. Therefore, the
measured centerline data with two
tabs could overemphasize the
effect of tabs. Mass flux
measurements are required to draw
firm conclusions on the mixing
enhancements by tabs.
Fig. 4 Streamwise variation of jet
centerline Mach numher: - ~~~ no-tab:
~~ ---
2-tab; (a) Mi=0.54, (b) MI=1.O4, (c)
M1=1.35, ( d ) M,=1.63, (e) MI=1.81.

Mass Flux Results

For a direct evaluation of the

extent of the mixing/entrainment
enhancement, radial profiles of .,or
the axial velocitvlMach
_, number (a)
were obtained using pitot-
pressure measurements in the Fig. 5 Radial profiles of Mach number for
axial locations where the Mj=1.63 at x/Dt=19(top) and x/Dt=30(bottom)
shock/expansiontrainwas already : (a) 1-tab, (b) 2-tab, (c) 4-tab;
... --- -
~

decayed and the flow was no-tab;

-_ $=O, ... $=O, @=goo, 1- and 2-tab;
$=45', 4-tab.
v
subsonic. Figure 5 shows the
radial profiles of Mach number
for I-, 2-, and 4-tab cases in

6
 comparison with the natural jet at two
azimuthal locations. The results are for
~ ~ = + . 6at
3 two axial locations, x/D,, where
D, is the nozzle throat diameter. Similar to
L=' the acoustic measurement cases discussed
earlier, the tabs are symmetrically located
at the jet exit plane for the 2- and 4-tab
cases. The azimuthal angle (#) was measured
with respect to a tab location (@=O). Data
are presented for @ = 0 and 90' for the 1-
and 2-tab cases, and @ = 0 and 45' for the
4-tab case. For the 1-tab case at x/D,=19,
there is an off-center radial shift for the
@ = 0" profile but not a significant shift
for the # = 90" profile. At x/D,=30
location, the shift is still present,
however, the jet diameter seems to have
been reduced at both azimuthal locations in
comparison with the natural jet. For the 2-
tab case, the dip at the center of the
profile for @=go" case and much larger
diameter of the jet at this plane are Signs
of the bifurcation of the jet. For 4-tab
case, the jet has become wider in both
planes at x/D,=19, however, the jet diameter
at x/D,=30 is close to that of the natural
jet.
The profiles in Figure 5 were integrated
from center to 10% of the centerline
velocity location on both sides to
determine the total mass flux (integrating
from center to 5% velocity location
instead, the fluxes increased by about 4%).
L For an axisymmetric flowfield such as the
natural jet, one profile is sufficient.
However, for an asymmetric flowfield such
as the 1-tab case, many profiles are
required for an accurate calculation of
mass flux. For the following mass flux
data, two profiles were used for the
natural jet (@= 0,90°) and the 4-tab case
(@=0,45"). For the 1- and 2-tab cases, the
integration was performed over four
profiles (@=0,45,90,135°), Figure 6 shows
the mass flux variation with x/D,. The mass
flux is normalized by the mass flux through
J e t M a s s Flux
M =~ 1 63
I >: , horizontal plane) of an underexpanded jet
'251 , , , ,
20
12 16 20 24 28
i x/Ol
Fiu. 6 Streamwise variation of normalized
ma;s flux for Mi=1.63 jet.
the nozzle which is the same for all three
cases. As a reference, the Mach 0 . 5 jet
case of Zaman (1986) is also plotted on the
figure. The 4-tab case has much higher mass
flux than the 2-tab case and the natural
jets initially. However, the 2-tab case
eventually entrains more mass than the 4-
tab case. An explanation will be offered
for this trend later. The mass flux in the
1-tab case is lower than all the other
cases, the reason for which is unclear at
this time.
Plow visualisations
a. Schlieren Photography
Both long exposure (standard video) and
short exposure (-20 ns) Schlieren
photographs were obtained. Figure 7 shows
long exposure photographs with a vertical
knife edge (visualizing the density
gradient in the axial direction) for a
subsonic (M.=0.67), an overexpanded
(Mj=1.14), and an underexpanded (Mj=1.81)
cases. All the photographs are the
horizontal view of the jet from the jet
exit to x/D, of approximately 13. The knife
edge position was changed for fine
idjustments and as a result the sensitivity
of the Schlieren system changed from case
to case. Therefore, the visual jet
thickness on these photographs is not a
measure of the actual thickness of the jet.
It is obvious in these photographs that the
jet bifurcates in the plane of the tabs in
all the operating regimes from subsonic to
underexpanded conditions. Radial velocity
measurements of Bradbury and Khadem (1975)
in subsonic jets and Ahuja and Brown (1989)
in underexpanded jets and the present
results, shown in Fig. 5 also in
underexpanded jets, show two off-axis peak
velocities which is an indication of this
bifurcation. The overall structure of the
jet is similar to that achieved by Parekh
et a1 (1987) Using a dual-mode acoustic
excitation technique.
Figure 8 shows a 20 ns exposure
schlieren photograph for the natural jet
and the 2-tab case (with the tabs in the
(Mi=1.63). The natural jet seems to switch
from axisymmetric mode to helical mode
after the second shock cell although on a
long exposure photograph the jet looks
similar to the Mi = 1.81 case shown in Fig.
7. For an underexpanded jet from a
converging nozzle, Gutmark, et a1 (1989)
reported helical mode for ~ ~ > 1 . 2with
1.12<Mi<1.18 being the transitional region
where the jet switched mode between
axisymmetric and helical. For the 2-tab
, case shown in Fig. 8(b), one cannot
32
distinguish what mode the jet is operating.
The long exposure photographs for this case
shows that the jet bifurcates even though
it is difficult to conclude this from the
short exposure photographs.
7
 Fl.y. 7 Long exposure Schli.eren. ....~...
Photographs with v e r t i c a l k n i f e edge
h o r i z o n t a l view f o r approximately x/D,.q to
11: ( a ) no-tab; (b) two t a b s on horizontal.
p l a n e ; ( c ) two t a b s on v e r t i c a l plane.

b. &as%% Sheet 1:l.lUrdination

p l a n a r visual.i.eations of the mj.xi.ny

r e g i o n of t h e j e t opera-tiny i n s n p e r s o n j ~ c
regimes was accomplished by u s i n g an
approximately L nun t h i c k sheet of l - i y h t
from t h e 4-W argon laser and ~i CCD camera
connected to a S W S t a p e r e c o r d e r . Water
particles, f:coin condensation of the
m o i s t u r e p r e s e n t i n the e n t r a i n e d ambient
air, i n t.he ml.xi.ng regi.on w e r e the
s c a t t a r i n n media. F i n u r e 9 shows t h e

on t h e p l a n e normal 'to t h e tabs f o r t.he 2..

(b)
 ,.ab case. In f a c t , v i s u a l i z a t i o n a t 30D, EOS:
the %-tab c a s e still shows a very elongated
c~?oss section. A s was shown v i t h the
Schlieren photographs, this is an
'. i n d i c a t i o n of jet b i f u r c a t i o n i n t h e 2+ab
case. The apparent e l l i p t i c i t y a t x/Dt=16
for: -the natural. 5e.t. 1- and 4-tab c a s e s i.s
mostly due to t h o m u s s i a n n a t u r e of 'the
lase?: 1.ight.

PkJurf 10 sho~us 'the n a t u r a l j e t c r o s s

secti.o?i a t x/Et:=:l,.5 a t ~ W Od i f f e r e n t Mach
numbers. l!here a r e d i s t i n c t azimuthal \-,

s t r u c t u r e s i n both t h e i n n e r and the o u t e r ~ig.3 Streamwise v a r i a t i o n of m5.xi.ng

f a c e s of t h o mixing r i n g . The number of
ty mocks) i n c r e a s e s as Mi
i i l a r azimuthal s t r u c t u r e s
have beerr r:'eported i n incompressible j e t
(e.g. Browand a n d Laufer, 1975 and Yule,
:1.978). Figure : L 1 shows the j e t c r o s s
s e c t i o n . w i t h ' t w o t a b s a t x/n,=1. The
o r i . y i n s i azi.muthal s t r u c t u r e s are still.
p r e s e n t . However, t h e r e i s a signj.fi.can-t
gross d i . s t o r t . i o n of t h e j e t c r o s s secti.on
doe t o 'titbs _. The mi.xirrgientrainnient area
has been s u b s t a n t i a l l y i.ncreased dne tu
.. . these ri.istorkivns. Thus, one woirld expect
t o see an enhanccd mixing. 12 we imagine
having ~2 pair of count.er-rotating
r e g i o n f o r H.=L.63 a s visualized w i t h a
s h e e t oif lighi:: (a) no-tab; (b) 3.-tab; (c)
a-tab; (a) 4-tab.
streamwise v o r t i c e s on t o p of 'the j e t
l o c a t e d symmetrically wi4ch r e s p e c t t o t h e
v e r t i c a l diame-tar and arrother p a i r at the
bottom of t h e jet, these v o r t i c e s wi.J.1.
d i s t o r t t h e jet c r o s s s e c t i o n t h e same
fashi.on a s sIIO%n i n Fig. 3.1. These v o r t i c e s
would induce more entraiiinient by sucking
t h e ambi.ent a i r r a d i a l l y , on 'the t a b s
p l a n e , i n t o t h e mixing r e y i o n . The ioiig
exposure ph0togr:aphs shown i n F i g . 9 f o r

9
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::