Elliptic nozzle geometry is attractive for mixing enhancement of supersonic
jets. However, jet dynamics, such as flapping, gives rise to high-intensity
tonal sound. We experimentally manipulate the supersonic elliptic jet
morphology by using two sharp-tipped lobes. The lobes are placed on either end
of the minor axis in an elliptic nozzle. The design Mach number and the aspect
ratio of the elliptic nozzle and the lobed nozzle are 2.0 and 1.65. The
supersonic jet is exhausted into ambient at almost perfectly expanded
conditions. Time-resolved schlieren imaging, longitudinal and cross-sectional
planar laser Mie-scattering imaging, planar Particle Image Velocimetry, and
near-field microphone measurements are performed to assess the fluidic behavior
of the two nozzles. Dynamic Mode and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (DMD and
POD) analysis are carried out on the schlieren and the Mie-scattering images.
Mixing characteristics are extracted from the Mie-scattering images through the
image processing routines. The flapping elliptic jet consists of two dominant
DMD modes, while the lobed nozzle has only one dominant mode, and the flapping
is suppressed. Microphone measurements show the associated noise reduction. The
jet column bifurcates in the lobed nozzle enabling a larger surface contact
area with the ambient fluid and higher mixing rates in the near-field of the
nozzle exit. The jet width growth rate of the two-lobed nozzle is about twice
as that of the elliptic jet in the near-field, and there is a 40\% reduction in
the potential core length. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) contours
substantiate the results.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures. Revised version submitted to Physics of Fluids
for peer review. URL of the Video files (Fig. 6 & Fig. 14) are given in the
text files (see in '/anc/*.txt'