Wavepacket models for supersonic jet noise

Gudmundsson and Colonius (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 689, 2011, pp. 97–128) have recently shown that the average evolution of low-frequency, low-azimuthal modal large-scale structures in the near field of subsonic jets are remarkably well predicted as linear instability waves of the turbulent mean flow using parabolized stability equations. In this work, we extend this modelling technique to an isothermal and a moderately heated Mach 1.5 jet for which the mean flow fields are obtained from a high-fidelity large-eddy simulation database. The latter affords a rigourous and extensive validation of the model, which had only been pursued earlier with more limited experimental data. A filter based on proper orthogonal decomposition is applied to the data to extract the most energetic coherent components. These components display a distinct wavepacket character, and agree fairly well with the parabolized stability equations model predictions in terms of near-field pressure and flow velocity. We next apply a Kirchhoff surface acoustic propagation technique to the near-field pressure model and obtain an encouraging match for far-field noise levels in the peak aft direction. The results suggest that linear wavepackets in the turbulence are responsible for the loudest portion of the supersonic jet acoustic field.