Vortex-induced disturbance field in a compressible shear layer.

The disturbance field induced by a small isolated vortex in a compressible shear layer is studied using direct simulation in a convected frame. The convective Mach number, Mc, is varied from 0.1 to 1.25. The vorticity perturbation is rapidly sheared by the mean velocity gradient. The resulting disturbance pressure field is observed to decrease both in magnitude and extent with increasing Mc, becoming a narrow transverse zone for Mc>=0.8. A similar trend is seen for the perturbation velocity magnitude and for the Reynolds shear stress. By varying the vortex size, it was verified that the decrease in perturbation levels is due to the mean-flow Mach number and not the Mach number across the vortex. At high Mc, the vortex still communicates with the edges of the shear layer, although communication in the mean-flow direction is strongly inhibited. The growth rate of perturbation kinetic energy declines with Mc primarily due to the reduction in shear stress. For Mc≥0.6, the pressure dilatation also contributes to the decrease of growth rates. Calculation of the perturbation field induced by a vortex doublet revealed the same trends as in the single-vortex case, illustrating the insensitivity of the Mach-number effect to the specific form of initial conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]