Impact of Mechanical Chevrons on Supersonic Jet Flow and Noise

In this paper, we present observations on the impact of mechanical chevrons on modifying the flow field and noise emanated by supersonic jet flows. These observations are derived from both a monotonically integrated large-eddy simulation (MILES) approach to simulate the near fields of supersonic jet flows and laboratory experiments. The nozzle geometries used in this research are representative of practical engine nozzles. A finite-element flow solver using unstructured grids allows us to model the nozzle geometry accurately and the MILES approach directly computes the large-scale turbulent flow structures. The emphasis of the work is on “off-design” or non-ideally expanded flow conditions. LES for several total pressure ratios under non-ideally expanded flow conditions were simulated and compared to experimental data. The agreement between the predictions and the measurements on the flow field and near-field acoustics is good. After this initial step on validating the computational methodology, the impact of mechanical chevrons on modifying the flow field and hence the near-field acoustics is being investigated. This paper presents the results to date and further details will be presented at the meeting.