J. E. Ffowcs Williams

Bio: J. E. Ffowcs Williams is an academic researcher from Imperial College London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Turbulence & Aerodynamics. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 13 publications receiving 4017 citations.

Sound Generation by Turbulence and Surfaces in Arbitrary Motion

Abstract: Monograph on sound generation by turbulence and surfaces in arbitrary motion, discussing sound and multipole fields and governing equations

Aerodynamic sound generation by turbulent flow in the vicinity of a scattering half plane

Abstract: The presence of the edge of a half plane in a turbulent fluid results in a large increase in the noise generated by that fluid at low Mach numbers. The parameter which is important is the product then the farfield sound has the same features as would be predicted by geometrical acoustics. The edge does not produce any significant sound amplification.

Transition from laminar to turbulent flow

Abstract: A NATO Advanced Study Institute on the topic of transition from laminar flow to turbulence was held at Imperial College, London, from 1 to 6 July 1968. Each morning's session was started with a one-hour general lecture, and was followed by five or six half-hour lectures interspaced with discussion periods. The main lecturers were C. C. Lin (general survey), S. Rosenblat (stability of time-dependent flows), L. S. G. Kovasznay (turbulent, non-turbulent interfaces), L. E. Scriven (free surface effects) and A. A. Townsend (shear turbulence). The idea of the meeting was to bring forth and to discuss current ideas in the subject, both from the point of view of developments out of laminar flow and from that of developments into real turbulence. To this end speakers were chosen to introduce a variety of topics ranging from laminar-flow instabilities (with emphasis on aspects at present imperfectly understood), through non-linear effects to the processes affecting turbulence itself.Many ideas recurred throughout the meeting, both at lectures and in discussion periods. This is true, for example, of several relevant points forcefully made by C. C. Lin. For this reason the present account does not attempt to describe the proceedings of the meeting in chronological order, but rather takes an overall view of the subject matter and points to the areas of agreement and of controversy in relation to various problems.

Sound Generation by Turbulent Two-Phase Flow,

Abstract: Sound generation by turbulent two-phase flow is considered by the methods of Lighthill's theory of aerodynamic noise. An inhomogeneous wave equation is derived, in which the effects of one phase on the other are represented by monopole, dipole and quadrupole distributions. The resulting power outputs are obtained for the case of a distribution of small air bubbles in water. The monopole radiation resulting from volumetric response of the bubbles to the turbulent pressure field overwhelms that from the quadrupoles equivalent to the turbulent flow, the increase in acoustic power output being about 70 dB for a volume concentration of 10%. The monopole radiation occurs through the forced response of the bubbles at the turbulence frequency; resonant response is shown to be impossible when the excitation is due to turbulence alone. Surface radiation arises from the edge of a cloud of bubbles. This radiation is important when the region containing bubbles is in the form of a sheet with thickness smaller than the length scale of the turbulent motion. Dipole radiation is also considered, and found to be negligible whenever monopole sources are present. In the case of a dusty gas, only dipole and quadrupole sources are present, and here it is shown that the dipole radiation is equivalent to an increase in the usual quadrupole radiation. The increase depends upon the mass concentration of dust, and is significant for mass concentrations in excess of unity.

Airfoil self-noise and prediction

Abstract: A prediction method is developed for the self-generated noise of an airfoil blade encountering smooth flow. The prediction methods for the individual self-noise mechanisms are semiempirical and are based on previous theoretical studies and data obtained from tests of two- and three-dimensional airfoil blade sections. The self-noise mechanisms are due to specific boundary-layer phenomena, that is, the boundary-layer turbulence passing the trailing edge, separated-boundary-layer and stalled flow over an airfoil, vortex shedding due to laminar boundary layer instabilities, vortex shedding from blunt trailing edges, and the turbulent vortex flow existing near the tip of lifting blades. The predictions are compared successfully with published data from three self-noise studies of different airfoil shapes. An application of the prediction method is reported for a large scale-model helicopter rotor, and the predictions compared well with experimental broadband noise measurements. A computer code of the method is given.

Boundary-Layer Linear Stability Theory

Abstract: Most fluid flows are turbulent rather than laminar and the reason for this was studied. One of the earliest explanations was that laminar flow is unstable, and the linear instability theory was first developed to explore this possibility. A series of early papers by Rayleigh produced many notable results concerning the instability of inviscid flows, such as the discovery of inflectional instability. Viscosity was commonly thought to act only to stabilize the flow, and flows with convex velocity profiles appeared to be stable. The investigations that led to a viscous theory of boundary layer instability was reported. The earliest application of linear stability theory to transition prediction calculated the amplitude ratio of the most amplified frequency as a function of Reynolds number for a Blasius boundary layer, and found that this quantity had values between five and nine at the observed Ret. The experiment of Schubauer and Skramstad (1947) completely reversed the prevailing option and fully vindicated the Gottingen proponents of the theory. This experiment demonstrated the existence of instability waves in a boundary layer, their connection with transition, and the quantitative description of their behavior by the theory of Tollmien and Schlichting. It is generally accepted that flow parameters such as pressure gradient, suction and heat transfer qualitatively affect transition in the manner predicted by the linear theory, and in particular that a flow predicted to be stable by the theory should remain laminar. The linear theory, in the form of the e9, or N-factor is today in routine use in engineering studies of laminar flow. The stability theory to boundary layers with pressure gradients and suction was applied. The only large body of numerical results for exact boundary layer solutions before the advent of the computer age by calculating the stability characteristics of the Falkner-Skan family of velocity profiles are given. When the digital computer reached a stage of development which permit the direct solution of the primary differential equations, numerical results were obtained from the linear theory during the next 10 years for many different boundary layer flows: three dimensional boundary layers; free convention boundary layers; compressible boundary layers; boundary layers on compliant walls; a recomputation of Falkner-Skan flows; unsteady boundary layers; and heated wall boundary layers.

Contributions to the theory of aerodynamic sound, with application to excess jet noise and the theory of the flute

Abstract: This paper describes a reformulation of the Lighthill (1952) theory of aerodynamic sound. A revised approach to the subject is necessary in order to unify the various ad hoc procedures which have been developed for dealing with aerodynamic noise problems since the original appearance of Lighthill's work. First, Powell's (1961 a) concept of vortex sound is difficult to justify convincingly on the basis of Lighthill's acoustic analogy, although it is consistent with model problems which have been treated by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Second, Candel (1972), Marble (1973) and Morfey (1973) have demonstrated the importance of entropy inhomogeneities, which generate sound when accelerated in a mean flow pressure gradient. This is arguably a more significant source of acoustic radiation in hot subsonic jets than pure jet noise. Third, the analysis of Ffowcs Williams & Howe (1975) of model problems involving the convection of an entropy ‘slug’ in an engine nozzle indicates that the whole question of excess jet noise may be intimately related to the convection of flow inhomogeneities through mean flow pressure gradients. Such problems are difficult to formulate precisely in terms of Lighthill's theory because of the presence of an extensive, non-acoustic, non-uniform mean flow. The convected-entropy source mechanism is actually absent from the alternative Phillips (1960) formulation of the aerodynamic sound problem.In this paper the form of the acoustic propagation operator is established for a non-uniform mean flow in the absence of vortical or entropy-gradient source terms. The natural thermodynamic variable for dealing with such problems is the stagnation enthalpy. This provides a basis for a new acoustic analogy, and it is deduced that the corresponding acoustic source terms are associated solely with regions of the flow where the vorticity vector and entropy-gradient vector are non-vanishing. The theory is illustrated by detailed applications to problems which, in the appropriate limit, justify Powell's theory of vortex sound, and to the important question of noise generation during the unsteady convection of flow inhomogeneities in ducts and past rigid bodies in free space. At low Mach numbers wave propagation is described by a convected wave equation, for which powerful analytical techniques, discussed in the appendix, are available and are exploited.Fluctuating heat sources are examined: a model problem is considered and provides a positive comparison with an alternative analysis undertaken elsewhere. The difficult question of the scattering of a plane sound wave by a cylindrical vortex filament is also discussed, the effect of dissipation at the vortex core being taken into account.Finally an approximate aerodynamic theory of the operation of musical instruments characterized by the flute is described. This involves an investigation of the properties of a vortex shedding mechanism which is coupled in a nonlinear manner to the acoustic oscillations within the instrument. The theory furnishes results which are consistent with the playing technique of the flautist and with simple acoustic measurements undertaken by the author.

Wall-bounded turbulent flows at high Reynolds numbers: Recent advances and key issues

Abstract: Wall-bounded turbulent flows at high Reynolds numbers have become an increasingly active area of research in recent years. Many challenges remain in theory, scaling, physical understanding, experimental techniques, and numerical simulations. In this paper we distill the salient advances of recent origin, particularly those that challenge textbook orthodoxy. Some of the outstanding questions, such as the extent of the logarithmic overlap layer, the universality or otherwise of the principal model parameters such as the von Karman “constant,” the parametrization of roughness effects, and the scaling of mean flow and Reynolds stresses, are highlighted. Research avenues that may provide answers to these questions, notably the improvement of measuring techniques and the construction of new facilities, are identified. We also highlight aspects where differences of opinion persist, with the expectation that this discussion might mark the beginning of their resolution.