Temporal And Spectral Features Of Wall Pressure Fluctuations Beneath A Turbulent Boundary Layer PDF Download

Boundary layer transition is an important contributor to sensor flow-induced self noise. The pressure fluctuations caused by this spatially bounded and intermittent, phenomenon encompass a very wide range of spatial wave numbers and temporal frequencies. Here, we analyze the wavevector-frequency spectrum of the wall pressure fluctuations due to subsonic boundary-layer transition as it occurs on a flat plate under zero pressure gradient conditions. Based on previous measurements of the statistic of the boundary-layer intermittence it is found that transition induces higher low-streamwise wave number wall pressure level than does a fully-developed turbulent boundary layer (TBL) that might superficially exist at the same location and at the same Reynolds number. The transition zone spanwise wavenunmber pressure components are virtually unchanged from the TBL ease. The results suggest that transition may be more effective than the TBL in forcing structural excitation at low Mach numbers and it may have a more intense radiated noise contribution on a per unit area basis. This may help explain increases in measured sensor self noise when the sensors are placed near the transition zone.