On the structure of an underexpanded rectangular jet

An underexpanded jet of air issuing from a converging rectangular nozzle of moderate aspect ratio was investigated. Schileren pictures of the flow field along with hot-wire measurements in the jet were obtained at different pressure ratios. At the pressure ratio corresponding to the maximum screeching sound, Schlieren photographs show a very strong organized cylindrical wave pattern on either side of the jet, with their respective sources being located at the end of the third shock cell. Associated with this wave pattern is a large increase in the angle of spread of the jet. It is shown that the self excitation helps to induce large-scale vortical motions in the jet both in the plane containing the small dimension of the nozzle and in the plane containing the long dimension of the nozzle. However, the locations of these structures are different in the two planes. Nevertheless, the characteristic Strouhal number corresponding to these large-scale structures in both planes is the same and equal to 0.12. The influence of the self excitation on the mean velocities and rms intensities was also investigated. For the full range of pressure ratios studied, similarity was found in the mean velocity and rms intensity profiles in the two central planes beyond 80 widths downstream of the nozzle exit. However, the shapes of the similarity profiles are different in the two planes.