The use of microperforations to attenuate the cavity pressure fluctuations induced by a low-speed flow

The paper describes experimental and numerical studies on the use of micro-perforated panels to reduce the flow cavity pressure fluctuations under a low-speed turbulent boundary layer. This passive strategy has been hardly studied in shallow cavities with length-to-depth ratios of the order of 10, for which flow reattachment might occur at the cavity floor. This implies the formation of a localized recirculation bubble upstream in the cavity, which is referred to as a closed cavity flow regime. An open flow regime takes place when the cavity is separated from the main flow by a shear layer over the full length. For a transitional case with a length-to-depth ratio of 10.6, micro-perforating the cavity floor reduces by up to 8 dB the dominant spectral peaks related to the bottom wall-pressure fluctuations in the first half of the cavity. For the closed regime with a length-to-depth ratio of 17.6, up to 6 dB reduction is found. The broadband fluctuations that are dominating in the downstream part of the cavity are not affected by the presence of the microperforations. Reduction of the peak pressure levels by the apertures is confirmed by two-dimensional Lattice Boltzmann simulations. Maximum dissipation occurs when outflow conditions are established within and at the inlet-outlet of the orifices. The impedance of the micro-perforated floor has been optimised and its effect on the bottom wall-pressures has been assessed. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.