Nearly homogeneous and isotropic turbulence generated by the interaction of supersonic jets

This study reports the development and characterization of a multiple-supersonic-jet wind tunnel designed to investigate the decay of nearly homogeneous and isotropic turbulence whose generation process is strongly influenced by fluid compressibility. The interaction of 36 supersonic jets generates turbulence that decays in the streamwise direction. The velocity field is measured with particle image velocimetry by seeding tracer particles with ethanol condensation. Various velocity statistics are evaluated to diagnose decaying turbulence generated by the supersonic jet interaction. The flow is initially inhomogeneous and anisotropic and possesses intermittent large-scale velocity fluctuations. The flow evolves into a statistically homogeneous and isotropic state as the mean velocity profile becomes uniform. In the nearly homogeneous and isotropic region, the ratio of root-mean-squared velocity fluctuations in the streamwise and vertical directions is about 1.08, the longitudinal integral scales are also similar in these directions, and the large-scale intermittency becomes insignificant. The turbulent kinetic energy per unit mass decays according to a power law with an exponent of about 2, larger than those reported for incompressible grid turbulence. The energy spectra in the inertial subrange agree well with other turbulent flows when normalized by the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate and kinematic viscosity. The non-dimensional dissipation rate C_ε is within a range of 0.56–0.87, which is also consistent with incompressible grid turbulence. The dependence of C_ε on the turbulent Reynolds number aligns with the scaling of non-equilibrium turbulence, leading to the large decay exponent.