Understanding the pressure fluctuations that arise within smooth surfaces subject to turbulent flows

What is it about?

Vehicles travelling through fluids undergo resistance. The interaction of the vehicle surface with the flow gives rise to structural vibrations. The vibrations affect the life and performance of a vehicle, but also give rise to induced sound. This unwanted production of sound causes environmental issues like community noise and can also make a defense vehicle unfit to conduct operations without alarming adversaries. The study tries to identify and quantify the sources of these induced vibrations within a smooth surface. We have developed a new technique that specifically targets the large-scale structures within a turbulent flow, which are hypothesized to be the major contributors to the induced pressure fluctuations within a surface. We also use sophisticated flow visualization techniques to unravel the otherwise invisible information within a moving flow.

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Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Researchers have attempted to generate a mathematical model that can predict the development of the surface pressure fluctuations. However, the available models and data suffered the absence of a sophisticated measurement technique that avoids the grave concerns regarding the aliasing of data. This can result in the establishment of a more accurate and universal model that can also cover the effects of various flow conditions that have never been targeted before. The development of an array of sensors discussed in our work achieves this goal.

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