Qualitative dynamics of wave packets in turbulent jets

We analyze the temporal dynamics associated with axisymmetric coherent structures in a turbulent jet. It has long been established that turbulent jets comprise large-scale coherent structures, now more commonly referred to as "wave packets" [Jordan and Colonius, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 45, 173 (2013)ARVFA30066-418910.1146/annurev-fluid-011212-140756]. These structures exhibit a marked spatiotemporal organization, despite turbulence, and we aim to characterize their temporal dynamics by means of nonlinear statistical tools. The analysis is based on data presented Breakey, in Proceedings of the 19th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, AIAA Paper 2013-2083 (AIAA, Reston, VA, 2013), where time series of the wave-packet signatures are extracted at different streamwise locations. The experiment runs at Ma=0.6 and Re=5.7×105. A thorough analysis is performed. Statistical tools are used to estimate the embedding and correlation dimensions that characterize the dynamical system. Input-output transfer functions are designed as control-oriented models; and for this special case, consistent with other recent studies, we find that linear models can reproduce much of the convective input-ouput behavior. Finally, we show how surrogate models can partially reproduce the nonlinear dynamics.