The characteristics of the internal layers of intense shear are examined in a mixing layer and in a jet, in the range of Reynolds numbers 134 < Re λ < 275. Conditionally-averaged profiles of streamwise velocity conditioned on the identified internal layers present strong velocity jumps, which account for approximately 10% of the characteristic large-scale velocity of the flow. The thickness δw of the internal layers from the combined analysis of both the mixing layer and the jet scales with δw /λ ∼ Re −1/2 λ , which suggests a scaling with the Kolmogorov length scale (η), analogous to recent observations on the turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI). The thickness of the internal shear layers within the mixing layer is found to be between 9η and 11η. The concentration of a passive scalar across the internal layers is also examined, at the Schmidt number Sc = 1.4. The scalar concentration does not show any jumps across the internal layers, which is an important difference between the internal layers and the TNTI. This can be explained from the analysis of the internal layers of intense scalar gradient, where the flow topology node/saddle/saddle dominates, associated with strain, whereas the internal layers of intense shear are characterised by a prevalence of focus/stretching. A topological content analogous to that obtained in layers of intense scalar gradient is found in proximity to the TNTI, at the boundary between the viscous superlayer (VSL) and the turbulent sublayer (TSL). These observations evidence that the TNTI and the internal layers of intense scalar gradient are similar in several respects.

In this work, the effect of multiple transverse jets on the turbulent boundary layer developing over a flat plate is experimentally investigated for aeroacoustic purposes. A single line of jet nozzles with different spanwise spacings is located parallel to the trailing-edge of the plate, at approximately 30 jet diameters upstream of the trailing-edge. The axes of the jet nozzles have an inclination of 15 • with respect to the streamwise direction. Two values of the jet velocity ratio (r = u jet /u ∞) are considered, r = 1 and r = 2. The simultaneous measurement of streamwise velocity and surface pressure fluctuations is performed with hot-wire anemometry and flush-mounted microphones, respectively. The mean velocity profiles show that the low inclination angle of the multiple jets prevents the formation of adverse pressure gradients, and therefore, the multiple jets injection does not lead to flow separation, at least at the range of downstream locations under investigation. From the velocity measurements, the jets merge downstream of the jet nozzles and form a layer of jet fluid characterized by a low energy content. The estimates of the far-field noise show that jets injection at a velocity ratio of r = 1 leads to noise attenuation over the whole range of frequencies under analysis. At a velocity ratio of r = 2, jets injection enables to gain a larger noise reduction than at r = 1 at low frequencies, but the estimated far-field noise is expected to increase at high frequencies.

The interaction between the large and the small scales of turbulence is investigated in a mixing layer, at a Reynolds number based on the Taylor microscale (Re λ ) of 250, via direct numerical simulations. The analysis is performed in physical space, and the local vorticity root-mean-square (r.m.s.) is taken as a measure of the small-scale activity. It is found that positive large-scale velocity fluctuations correspond to large vorticity r.m.s. on the low-speed side of the mixing layer, whereas, they correspond to low vorticity r.m.s. on the high-speed side. The relationship between large and small scales thus depends on position if the vorticity r.m.s. is correlated with the large-scale velocity fluctuations. On the contrary, the correlation coefficient is nearly constant throughout the mixing layer and close to unity if the vorticity r.m.s. is correlated with the large-scale velocity gradients. Therefore, the small-scale activity appears closely related to large-scale gradients, while the correlation between the small-scale activity and the large-scale velocity fluctuations is shown to reflect a property of the large scales. Furthermore, the vorticity from unfiltered (small scales) and from low pass filtered (large scales) velocity fields tend to be aligned when examined within vortical tubes. These results provide evidence for the so-called 'scale invariance' (Meneveau & Katz, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., vol. 32, 2000, pp. 1-32), and suggest that some of the large-scale characteristics are not lost at the small scales, at least at the Reynolds number achieved in the present simulation.

The present study is an experimental investigation of the relationship between the large- and small-scale motions in the far field of an air jet at high Reynolds number. In the first part of our investigation, the analysis is based on time series of hot-wire anemometry (HWA), which are converted into space series after applying the Taylor hypothesis. By using a spectral filter, two signals are constructed, one representative of the large-scale motions ($2{\it\lambda}_{T}-L$, where ${\it\lambda}_{T}$ is the Taylor length scale, and $L$ is the integral length scale) and the other representative of the small-scale motions ($1.5{-}5{\it\eta}$, where ${\it\eta}$ is the Kolmogorov length scale). The small-scale signal is found to be modulated both in amplitude and in frequency by the energy-containing scales in an analogous way, both at the centreline and around the centreline. In particular, for positive fluctuations of the large-scale signal, the small-scale signal is locally stronger in amplitude (amplitude modulation), and it locally exhibits a higher number of local maxima and minima (frequency modulation). The extent of this modulation is quantified based on the strength of the large-scale fluctuations. The response of the small-scale motions to amplitude modulation can be considered instantaneous, being on the order of one Kolmogorov time scale. In the second part of our investigation we use long-range ${\it\mu}$PIV to study the behaviour of the small-scale motions in relation to their position in either high-speed or low-speed regions of the flow. The spatially resolved velocity vector fields allow us to quantify amplitude modulation directly in physical space. From this direct estimation in physical space, amplitude modulation is only 25 % of the value measured from HWA. The remaining 75 % comes from the fixed spectral band filter used to obtain the large- and small-scale signals, which does not consider the local convection velocity. A very similar overestimation of amplitude modulation when quantified in the time-frame is also obtained analytically. Furthermore, the size of the structures of intense vorticity does not change significantly in relation to the large-scale velocity fluctuation, meaning that there is no significant spatial frequency modulation. The remaining amplitude modulation in space can be explained as a statistical coupling between the strength of the structures of vorticity and their preferential location inside large-scale high-velocity regions. Finally, the implications that the present findings have on amplitude and frequency modulation in turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) are discussed.

The effect of uniform inclined flow suction on an equilibrium turbulent boundary layer developing over a flat plate is experimentally investigated for aeroacoustic purposes. Simultaneous measurements of streamwise velocity with hot-wire anemometry, and surface pressure fluctuations using flush-mounted microphones were performed at various locations downstream of the flow control treatment. The paper discusses the effects of flow suction on the turbulent quantities describing the boundary layer, and the associated hydrodynamic pressure field to assess the effects of flow suction on trailing edge noise generation. Two parameters were varied, the inclination of the flow suction velocity (α) and the flow suction severity (σ). The former is the angle of flow suction with respect to the free-stream flow (α = 30 • , 50 • , 70 • and 90 • ), while the latter is the ratio of momentum deficit within the boundary layer to the momentum of flow suction (σ = 2.5 − 9.1). Flow suction reduces the height of the boundary layer, which results in an increase of mean shear. The flow energy content within the boundary layer is reduced by suction with the most significant amount of reduction is observed within the logarithmic region. A moderate energy increase is observed in the buffer layer. These effects strengthen with growing suction severity until σ ≈ 6. Above this point, no further changes are observed in the turbulent quantities. The reduction in the size and energy content of the logarithmic layer is responsible for the reduction of the surface pressure fluctuations at mid-frequencies, while the increased energy content in the buffer layer increases the pressure spectral content at high frequencies. The estimates of the far-field trailing edge noise show that flow suction leads to a noise reduction at mid-frequencies with penalties observed at low and high frequencies. Flow suction at an angle of α = 70 • and σ ≈ 6 exhibits the best performance in reducing the estimated far-field overall noise levels. Above this point, further increasing the flow suction severity does not provide any additional noise reduction benefits.