Paper detail

Multiscale analysis of spectral broadening of acoustic waves by a turbulent shear layer

We consider the scattering of acoustic waves emitted by an active source above a plane turbulent shear layer. The layer is modeled by a moving random medium with small spatial and temporal fluctuations of its mean velocity, and constant density and speed of sound. We develop a multi-scale perturbative analysis for the acoustic pressure field transmitted by the layer and derive its power spectral density when the correlation function of the velocity fluctuations is known. Our aim is to compare the proposed analytical model with some experimental results obtained for jet flows in open wind tunnels. We start with the Euler equations for an ideal fluid flow and linearize them about an ambient, unsteady inhomogeneous flow. We study the transmitted pressure field without fluctuations of the ambient flow velocity to obtain the Green's function of the unperturbed medium with constant characteristics. Then we use a Lippmann-Schwinger equation to derive an analytical expression of the transmitted pressure field, as a function of the velocity fluctuations within the layer. Its power spectral density is subsequently computed invoking a stationary-phase argument, assuming in addition that the source is time-harmonic and the layer is thin. We finally study the influence of the source tone frequency and ambient flow velocity on the power spectral density of the transmitted pressure field and compare our results with other analytical models and experimental data.