3. Sound vib.

(1966) 3 (3), 277-287

AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED RESONANCE IN

RECTANGULAR CAVITIES

L. F. EASY

Cambridge University Engineering Laboratory, Cambridge, England

(Received 3oJuly, 1965, and in revisedform 18 December 1965)

Experiments have shown that in deep rectangular cavities of large aspects ratios at low
Mach numbers oscillations of discrete frequencies can be produced. These oscillations are
primarily of the fundamental acoustic depth mode and the values of the non-dimensional
quantity (fd/a) are in close agreement with a published theory. An additional shear layer
resonance is inferred from the fact that the noise level reaches obvious maxima at certain
Mach numbers, yielding two bands of Strouhal numbers with a suggestion of a third. The
similarity between this shear layer flow and that of edge tones is supported experimentally.
Thus the phenomenon of aerodynamically induced cavity resonance is considered to
result from the simultaneous doubly tuned amplification of the shear layer unsteadiness by
both the shear layer “edge tone” effect and the cavity enclosure acting as an acoustic
resonator.

I. INTRODUCTION

This paper is concerned with an experimental investigation into the properties of the
pressure oscillations of discrete frequencies which can occur when air flows across the
mouth of rectangular cavities. Thus it is a particular aspect of the more general problem of
aerodynamically induced pressure fluctuations in enclosures.
In choosing the particular cavity shape used, it was thought desirable to select an
enclosure shape which could be expected to cause a fluid flow that would be acceptably
two-dimensional as it was reasonable to expect that this would be the easiest configuration
to understand. Accordingly an enclosure in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped was
chosen, having five of the faces closed by rigid boundaries and the sixth open and coplanar
with a large surrounding surface aligned with a uniform stream of air. This latter condition
was most easily satisfied by mounting the cavity in.one of the bounding surfaces of a wind
tunnel working section. To give the maximum chance of obtaining two-dimensional flow
the dimension of the open side at right angles to the free stream flow direction (dimension S
in Figure I and hereafter called the span) was made large with respect to the dimension
of the same side in the direction of the flow (the chord b). It has been previously reported by
Maul1 and East (I) however that the large aspect ratio (S/b) did not necessarily result in
effectively two-dimensional flow. This lack of two-dimensional flow has not been found to
have any discernible effect upon the unsteady characteristics of the flow although attempts
to relate the two have been made.
Previous published work concerned with the aerodynamic production of discrete
frequency pressure oscillations in cavities has been concentrated mainly on two classes of
the problem :
(i) tests at high speed using small, shallow cavities and shapes relevant to practical
problems in aircraft ;
(ii) very low speed tests using large enclosures with comparatively small openings
which can operate as Helmholtz resonators.
t Present address: Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford.
a77
278 L. F. EAST

In the former group are the papers of Krishnamurty (2), Morozov (3), Plumblee,
Gibson and Lassiter (4) and Rossiter (5). The first two used small shallow cavities of
moderate to high aspect ratios with depth to chord ratios less than unity and dimensions of
the order of 10-l in. They concentrated their attention on the radiation ofsound out of the
cavity, using schlieren as a convenient visualization technique. They both conclude that
the phenomenon is most likely to be associated with an instability of the separated bound-
ary layer permitting amplification of disturbances within certain limits of wavelength.
Krishnamurty also presents a graph of Strouhal number (fb/U) against Mach number
where f is the frequency and U the free stream velocity. This shows that for a turbulent
boundary layer approaching the cavity with a stream Mach number of about 0.7 there are
two values of (fb/U) of about 0.3 and 0.65. Both Rossiter and Plumblee et al. are more
specifically concerned with the problem of buffeting in a bomb bay and accordingly their
models were of this shape. Rossiter puts forward an empirical relationship for Strouhal
number which he suggests from a consideration of the similarity of the flow in the shear

Free stream

Cavity $_
---_ _-.y_-

Figure I. Cavity dimensions and system of axes.

layer to that causing edge tones. This similarity of flow is inferred from his shadowgraphs
of the flow in a two-dimensional cavity at a Mach number of 0.6. These show that the shear
layer separating the cavity from the external flow rolls up into discrete vortices and that
these are shed at regular time intervals from the front lip of the cavity. Plumblee et al. (4)
approach the problem in a different way and ignoring any relevance that Strouhal number
might have, solve the problem of the acoustic response of a rectangular cavity to plane
waves impinging upon its open side across which a uniform flow is passing. Thus they con-
tribute a theoretical solution to one part of the problem which enables the frequencies of
the resonant oscillations in a cavity to be calculated, but gives no indication of the aero-
dynamic conditions under which these resonances will be activated.
In the latter group are the smoke photographs of Brown and Quinn? which also show the
shear layer breaking down into a series of vortices. The ratio of the volume of their models
to the area of their surfaces which were open to the external flow was much larger than the
corresponding ratio for a rectangular cavity with one side completely open. Thus they
could act as Helmholtz resonators at a frequency considerably lower than would be neces-
sary to form a standing acoustic wave. Consequently these cavities could be aerodynamic-
t Unpublished, but they are mentioned by Quinn (6) and some have been reproduced by
Dunham (7).
 AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED CAVITY RESONANCE 279
ally forced at their resonant frequencies by very low free stream velocities and so were
ideal for use with the smoke visualization technique. Quinn (6) also puts forward a theory
for the frequency of oscillations, mainly from the point of view of the shear layer forcing
mechanism. A different explanation of this eddy shedding is proposed by Dunham (7).
Against this background the present experiments can be regarded as a low speed investig-
ation of the type of cavity investigated at high speed by the first group mentioned above.
They differ fundamentally from the experiments of Brown and Quinn in that a different
form of cavity resonance is to be expected.

z. EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT

A cavity of rigid construction was used in order to avoid mechanical resonances. As

shown in Figure 2 it consisted of two planks of Japanese oak IO in. wide by 3 in. thick and
25 in. long bolted together at their ends by six lengths of 0.5 in. screwed steel rod and kept

Free stream
._____+

-Chord b-

in.xbin.xZin.

Figure 2. Section of rectangular cavity.

apart by an oak spacer at each end. This construction was rigid and had the advantage
that the chord could be changed by inserting a pair of spacers of the desired thickness.
The cavity spanwas kept constant at 18 in. thoughout the experiments but the depth was
varied by means of a piston arrangement operated by two screw jacks. A different piston
was required for each chord measurement but each was similarly constructed of oak 2 in.
thick and sealed by foam rubber under pressure as shown in Figure 2. A 0.5 in. Briiel &
Kjaer condenser microphone was flush mounted in the centre of each piston.
Initially this cavity was designed to be mounted in a tunnel of 7.5 in. by 20 in. working
section, but it was found that the tunnel and the cavity interacted acoustically. The cavity
was therefore moved to a 5.5 ft by 4 ft closed return tunnel having a top speed of about
280 L. F. EAST

200 ft/sec which corresponded to a Mach number of about 0.18 and in this tunnel no
interference was discerned. The cavity was mounted in a false bottom 1.25 in. above the
tunnel floor and faired into it at a distance of 18 in. both upstream and downstream so
that no separation of the tunnel boundary layer took place.
Since there was interest in finding whether there was any correlation between the
acoustic behaviour of a cavity and the three-dimensional cellular flow previously mentioned
the piston used in the cavity of 1.96 in. chord was fitted with thirty-five static pressure
tappings. These were positioned at 0.5 in. centres along a spanwise line 0.4 in. downstream
of the upstream wall of the cavity.
The output from the microphone and its associated electronics was fed into a Muirhead
D-669-B wave analyser having a nominal Q factor of 50 and into an oscilloscope in parallel.
The output of the analyser was rectified and displayed along they-axis of a Moseley Auto-
graph X-Y Recorder Model 136. The x-axis input was connected to a variable potentio-
meter geared directly to the frequency control of the analyser. In this way a record could
be obtained of the frequency spectra as a whole although the peak signals were also
measured directly on the analyser scales.

3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Preliminary spectral analyses were recorded with the cavity set at zero depth. The prim-
ary purpose for this was to detect the presence of any discrete frequencies already present
in the undisturbed flow. The analyses showed no discrete frequencies in the tunnel except
those due to the fan. These signals only occurred at high speeds and their frequencies were
below the range of the cavity resonances and can consequently be ignored.
Velocity profiles of the approaching turbulent boundary layer were also measured with
the depth of the cavity set at zero to check that it was acceptably uniform along the span of
the cavity, though as the span was less than a third of the width of the tunnel this was not
expected to cause trouble. The profiles were measured with a comb having sixteen pitot
tubes at 0.125 in. centres and measurements were taken atyl = o, y3 = - 8 in., o and 8 in.,
where they,, y2 andy, axes are depicted in Figure I. These tests showed that the boundary
layer was acceptably uniform across the span and also that the boundary layer thickness
(a), measured to the u/U= 0.99 point, on the centre line of the cavity varied with tunnel
velocity according to 8 = 1.7 U- l/’ where 6 is measured in inches and U in ft/sec.
Experiments were then carried out for three different values of chord length-o.96 in.,
1.96 In. and 2.92 In.-and for each of these a series of depths were used from the maximum
of 8 in. down to the minimum from which any useful results could be obtained. In general,
steps of I in. were taken but intermediate 0.5 in. depths were also used for the shallower
cavities. For each cavity geometry a series of from six to twelve velocities covering the
complete available range were used. For these tests a frequency analysis from 90 c/s to 30
kc/s was recorded on the graph plotter and in addition for the cavity of chord 1.96 in. the
spanwise static pressure distribution was also recorded. These preliminary frequency
spectra served to indicate the frequencies and velocities at which resonances might be
expected. Details were then filled in by taking much smaller steps in velocity and measuring
the dominant frequencies and their corresponding pressures directly on the analyser.
Since the air temperature was found to vary over a range of 12’C a record was kept corres-
ponding to each set of readings taken. Some 1200 sets of readings were taken.

4. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
THE CRITERIONFOR RESONANTCONDITIONS
It was found that for any particular geometrical configuration a noise of discrete
frequency was produced over only a limited velocity range and as the velocity was varied
 AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED CAVITY RESONANCE 281

the power of this tone rose to a maximum and then fell off. It was possible for this process
to occur at other velocities with different frequencies.
The results will be analysed by treating separately each continuous band of conditions
that produced discrete frequencies. Each band is thought of as being centred upon a
resonant condition. Having established this resonance, near-by conditions, which also
produce a discrete frequency, are treated as off-resonant.
It seems reasonable to expect the dominant frequency produced to be associated with
the frequency of an acoustic resonance of the open-ended cavity. If, however, this reson-
ance were to receive broad band acoustic energy from the shear layer spanning the mouth
of the cavity then the resonance could be expected to occur over a large range of free
stream velocities. Since this is not borne out experimentally it is inferred that a feed-back
mechanism exists in the shear layer such that particular frequencies of oscillations are con-
siderably amplified relative to the rest. Thus the resonant condition is defined as the con-
dition under which the frequency of the acoustic resonance of the cavity is the same as
the dominant frequency of the shear layer feed-back system, for only under this condition
of doubly tuned amplification does the shear layer unsteadiness responsible for providing
the energy to the cavity receive the least attenuation.
No satisfactory theoretical or experimental method has been found of assessing this
shear layer energy and so the criterion of maximum amplification cannot be established.
However, as the acoustic pressure level measured at the base of the cavity changes rapidly
with velocity the precise relationship is not necessary. The criterion of resonance that will
be used in this paper is thatp/q shall be a maximum (where9 is the r.m.s. fluctuating pres-
sure recorded by the microphone at the dominant frequency and q is the free stream kinetic
pressure). This condition will be used to establish the resonant values of (fd/a) for the
cavity acoustic depth mode and of (fb/U) for the shear layer feed-back system (where GJ
is the cavity depth and a is the speed of sound).

RESONANT STROUHAL NUMBER

The resonant values of (fb/ U) are shown in Figure 3. It will be seen that the Strouhal
number falls mainly into two bands, one between about 0.3 and 0.4 and the other between
0.6 and 0.9 with two points around 1.3. These last two points correspond to very weak and
indefinite resonances and also do not correspond to a depth mode of the cavity.
Rossiter proposed the following empirical relationship for the resonant Strouhal
number :

fb/u = (m-t)H, (1)

I+MH

where m is any positive integer and H can be construed as being the ratio of the mean eddy
convection velocity across the cavity mouth to the free stream velocity and is unknown.
Rossiter has also shown experimentally that in the resonant condition the shear layer
develops into a series of eddies having the same direction of rotation, rather like one half
of either a Karman street or a jet producing edge tones. The above equation has a
similar form to that produced by Curle (8) for the latter case, the only difference being that
the minus sign is replaced by a plus sign.
Since H is unknown it is convenient to proceed by assuming that equation (I) is correct
and then to determine what behaviour of H is implied by the combination of this assump-
tion and the experimental results. Assuming then that these bands of Strouhal number
282 L. F. EAST

correspond to m= I and 2 respectively, values of H can be calculated. Thus H can be

plotted against A/S where A is the mean eddy spacing and is given by
b(~ +HM)
h=HUlf= (m_$) - (2)
The value of 6 used is the boundary layer thickness at the upstream corner of the cavity
with the depth reduced to zero. This plot is given in Figure 4 and it will be seen that while
there is some scatter the groups of points corresponding to each combination of 6 and m do

1 I 1 1 1 1 ’ ’ 1
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 6.0
d (in.)

Figure 3. Plot of Strouhal number against cavity depth for resonant conditions. 0, b=o*g6,
x , b = I-96, A, b = 2.92.

H
(;IH
o.4
o-2
I-
c
i

1 1 I IL--II
0 I-0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0

X/8

Figure 4. The variation of H with h/S for resonant conditions, where His deduced from equation
(I) andA from equation (2). (For key see Figure 3.)

lie sufficiently close to a curve to provide experimental evidence in favour of-the validity of
equation (I). It will also be noted that the values of H deduced lie in the range 0.35 to 0.6,
which are reasonable values.

RESONANT FREQUENCY

As previously stated resonance is considered to exist when both (fb/ U) and (@/a) have
their resonant values and so in order to determine the frequencies at which a cavity will
resonate it is necessary to know (@/a).
The response to a forcing pressure at the mouth of a rectangular cavity having a stream
of air flowing across its mouth has been treated theoretically by Plumblee et al. (4). They
have taken as their model a rectangular cavity of arbitrary dimensions having five walls
 AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED CAVITY RESONANCE 283
terminated in an infinite impedance and the sixth terminated in the radiation impedance of
the cavity opening. They hypothesize that the phenomenon of sound resonance in a cavity
is basically that of an enclosure responding in its normal acoustic modes and assume that
the fluid within the cavity is at rest while that outside is moving with uniform velocity.

TABLE I

Computed values of R and X

Ratio S/b = 6.15 9’2 18.75

--
M kb R X R X R x -

0 0.0625 0.0038 0.0607 0.0057 0.0680 0’0112 0.0802

0.0884 0.0076 0.0855 0’0112 0.0955 0.0216 0.1105
0’1250 0.0150 0.1199 0’0221 0.1329 0’0402 0.1488
0.1768 0.0296 0.1668 0.0425 0.1822 0.0702 0.1933
0.2500 0.0572 0.2284 0.0793 0’2430 0.1108 0.2409
0.3536 0’1073 0.3038 0.1387 0.3096 0.1589 0.2969
0.5000 0.1898 0.3838 0.2195 0.3723 0’2304 0.3680
0.7071 0.3044 o-45 I I 0.3133 0.4353 0.3293 0’435 I
1’0000 “‘4352 0.5017 0.4464 0.5067 0.4642 0’4970
1’4142 0.6028 0’5492 0.6210 0.5359 0.6361 0.5307
2’0000 0.8140 0’5179 0.8255 0.5107 0.8371 0’5023
2.8284 1’0044 0.4022 1.0088 0.3907 1.0183 0.3807

0’1 0.0625 0.0038 0.0609 0.0057 0.0683 0*0113 0.0805

0.0884 0.0077 0.0857 0*01x3 0.0958 0.0218 0.1108
0.1250 0.0152 0. I 203 0.0223 0.1333 0.0406 0’ 1492
0.1768 0.0299 0.1673 0’0429 0.1827 0.0707 0.1936
0.2500 0.0578 0~2290 0.0799 0’2435 0*1114 0.2412
0.3536 OS1083 0.3043 0.1397 0.3099 0.1596 0.2972
0.5000 0.1912 0.3841 0.2207 0.3723 0.2316 0.3682
0.7071 0.3061 0.4507 0.3 146 0’4350 0.3308 0.4349
1’0000 0.4367 0.5006 0.4483 o*5057 OQ4658 0.4958
1’4142 0.6044 0.5469 0.6222 O’S335 0.6374 0.5283
2’0000 0.8134 0.5138 0.8249 0.5066 038365 0.4982
2.8284 0.9998 0.3982 1.0041 0.3871 1~0136 0.3772

0’2 0.0625 0.0040 0.0615 0.0059 0.0690 0’0117 0.0813

0.0884 0.0079 0.0866 0.0117 0.0968 0*0225 0.1119
0.1250 0.0157 0.1215 0.0229 0.1346 0*0416 0.1505
0.1768 0.0308 0.1688 0’0442 0.1843 0’0723 0.1948
0.2500 0.0594 0.2309 0.0821 0’2452 0.1134 0.2421
0.3536 0:1111 0.3061 0.1428 0.3110 0.1620 0.2983
0.5000 O-1955 0.3848 0’2244 0’3722 0.2354 0.3686
0.7071 0.3111 0.4492 0.3187 0.4342 0’3351 0.4340
1’0000 0’4412 0’4971 o-4539 0’5023 0.4706 0’4922
1’4142 0.6091 o-5397 0.6257 0.5260 0.641 I 0.5206
2’0000 0.8109 0’5014 0.8223 0.4942 0.8338 0.4860
2.8284 0.9853 0.3871 0.9894 0’3774 0.9990 0.3672

The general solution to the problem is one of considerable complexity but they point
out that for a cavity for which d/b > I the depth mode is the only one which occurs experi-
mentally and in this case a very much simpler solution exists.
The response of a cavity in its depth modes is shown to be given by

p/p, = {(RsinI#+ (Xsinkd- co~kd)~)-‘/~ (3)

284 L. F. EAST

where p is the r.m.s. pressure amplitude at the base of the cavity, p, is the r.m.s. forcing
pressure amplitude at the mouth of the cavity, k is the wave number (k = 237-/u) and R and
Xare complicated functions which must be evaluated by a computer and are given in their
publication. The resonant value of (fd/ a ) can be obtained from this equation as the value
giving maximump&. The principal problem in using the equation is in calculating R and
X, which are functions of frequency, Mach number and aspect ratio. This computation
was carried out at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory on the EDSAC 2
Computer and the results are given in Table I. The values are correct to four decimal
places. A geometric series of values of frequency was chosen so as to cover a large range while
keeping the number of computations down. It will be seen that the variation of R and X
with the limited changes of 1Mand (S/6) is small, but nevertheless the resonant values of
(f+z) were computed for the nine combinations of M and S/b as well as for values of d from
I in. to 8 in. in steps of o-5 in.

fd
0
(~)(1+O~65($)"*75)=O*25

Figure 5. Plot of fd/a against d/b for resonant conditions. Comparison between experiment and
theory. (For key see Figure 3.)

In Figure 5 the experimental values of (fd/a) together with the theoretical values are
plotted against (d/b). 0 n ly one theoretical curve is given because when plotted against (d/b)
the limited changes in M and (S/b) make a difference little greater than the thickness of the
line shown. For some values of (d/b) t wo or more experimental points are shown tied
together ; in these cases two or more peaks occurred, usually separated by a step change in
frequency such that the Strouhal number was roughly constant for each peak though the
velocity was different. These multiple peaks are responsible for the difference in the
number of experimental points shown in Figures 3 and 4. All the peaks are shown in
Figure 4 but when plotted in Figure 3 the multiple peaks become coincident and so are
shown as single points. The reason for these spurious multiple resonances is not understood
but Figure 5 shows that they straddle the theoretical value. The agreement shown in this
figure demonstrates that, at least for these cavity shapes and free stream Mach numbers,
the resonant frequency predictions of Plumblee et al. (4) are good. This agreement implies
some degree of spanwise correlation in the shear layer if the eddies are to couple with a
cavity mode which is uniform in the transverse direction.
The first calculation of this type was done by Lord Rayleigh (9) on an open ended
circular pipe and he looked for a solution in which the open end was equivalent to an
 AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED CAVITY RESONANCE 285

extension of the pipe proportional to its radius. Such a relationship would be useful in the
present case because of the ease with which it could be applied. Thus having both experi-
mental and fairly refined theoretical results, it is interesting to see whether a simple curve
could be made to fit. Following Lord Rayleigh’s lead an equation of the form

(@/a) {I + A(z+q} = 0’25

may be tried, since it is clear that as (b/d)-+0 the effect of the open end becomes negligible
and so (f4a)-+o*25. Taking B= I leads to no good agreement but the best value of A is
about 04. However, by making a suitable logarithmic plot it can be found that A = 0.65,
B = 0.75 gives a curve that coincides with the best curve through the computed points,
except for low values of (d/b) as shown in Figure 5.

OFF-RESONANT CONDITIONS

Although the frequency analyses of off-resonant conditions are similar to those of

resonant conditions in that they display a very pronounced peak at one particular frequency,
they differ in that the magnitude of the peak decreases as the Mach number is progressively

0 3

-10 -10

-20 -20

-30 -30

-40 -40

~I

----Q-q

%a
I.1 l-0
\ / /

I.0 F9

!I(-)
fd a r5

i
0.9

0.8

0.Y I.”

Figure 6. Examples of off-resonant conditions. (a) b, 0.96 in. ; d, 8 in. ; m, I. (b) b, 2.92 in. ; tf,
7 in.; 112,2.
20
286 L. F. EAST

changed from the resonant value, until eventually the peak disappears. Since the resonant
values of (j%/U) and (fd/ a) are sensibly independent of Mach number they cannot both
remain constant as the Mach number is changed, with the same value off. Therefore either
two values offwill be produced, each satisfying one of the above conditions, or one value of
fpart way between these values will receive peak amplification. Generally, it is found that
the latter is the case but the former is thought to be responsible for the beating of the
signal which sometimes occurred. Examples of the off-resonant behaviour are shown in
Figure 6. In this figure the suffix “ rs ” denotes resonant conditions.

5. DISCUSSION

It has been found that under certain circumstances deep rectangular cavities will
produce, in the air passing over them, regular oscillations of a particular frequency. The
experiments suggest that such tones will only occur when the shear layer oscillations are
amplified by acoustic coupling between the shear layer pressure fluctuations at particular
Strouhal numbers and the cavity acoustic modes. The conditions under which this coup-
ling will occur can be deduced from equations (I) and (3), for when the properties of the
shear layer are such that the frequency given by (I) gives a maximum value of p/pf when
substituted into (3) then the cavity resonance will be aerodynamically induced. For the
purposes of the present discussion this condition may be deduced approximately. By
ignoring the M term in equation (I), the shear layer frequency is approximately given by
fb/U=(m-&)Handf rom equation (3), as shown in Figure 5, the fundamental depth mode
frequency is approximately given by 0.15 < fd/a < 0.22. Eliminating the frequency
between these two conditions gives 0*15/(m - $)H < Md/b < o*22/(m - $) H. This shows
that for any particular values of d/band m there is a minimum value of M below which any
discrete frequency fluctuations will be very small. However it would appear from this
condition that by selecting a sufficiently high value of m this lower limit of M can be
decreased indefinitely, which suggests that in fact oscillations will occur for certain Mach
numbers below any particular value of M. This is not borne out experimentally, for it
seems that the only values of m that are really active at low speeds are one and two. The
shallowness of cavities that can be resonated in the fundamental depth mode is also limited
by the fact that the effectiveness of a rectangular cavity as a resonator decreases as d/b
decreases and this effect is borne out by equation (3). Thus the combination of these two
restrictions implies that to resonate shallow cavities in the depth modes high Mach
numbers would be required, but, as has been shown by experimenters working at super-
sonic speeds, such cavities are in fact much more likely to resonate in the longitudinal
modes.
In addition to the fundamental depth mode limited experimental evidence of two other
acoustic modes was obtained. In the first case weak signals were recorded for the following
set of conditions : b = 0.96 in., d= 7 in., fd/a = 0.765 to 0.8 and fb/U= 0.72 to o-62. This
suggests that the third harmonic of the depth mode was being forced by the second Strou-
ha1 mode (m = 2), but this is the only recorded occasion when the third harmonic produced
a measurable signal. Signals were also recorded on a number of occasions which gave
values of fd/a 20% to 40% greater than the fundamental depth mode. This mode is
thought to be the fundamental mode based upon both the depth and the span of the cavity.
If this is so it is probable that the inferred spanwise correlation in the shear layer will have
changed.
Thus it appears that for d/b> I and M< 0.18, the main cavity-pressure resonances
occur in the fundamental depth mode with m equal to I or 2. At higher Mach numbers,
other cavity modes and values of m are expected to be important.
 AERODYNAMICALLY INDUCED CAVITY RESONANCE 287
Having found three-dimensional flow in cavities of this type the question is raised
whether there is any effect of this mean flow phenomenon upon the acoustic behaviour of
the cavity. In addition to the inferred presence of an acoustic mode based upon the span as
well as the depth, which might be related to such an interdependence, an apparent effect
was observed during the preliminary experiments conducted in the 20 in. x 7.5 in. tunnel
mentioned in section 2. It was noted that if the tunnel was run at such a speed that very
small changes in velocity caused the pitch of the tone heard to jump alternately between
two levels then the spanwise pressure distribution changed. To obtain more certain
evidence of this interdependence the measurements described in section 3 were made, but
the results have proved completely negative. No correlation whatsoever can be seen
between the mean flow and the acoustic behaviour of the cavity as each is apparently
totally unaffected by the other’s presence.

6. CONCLUSIONS

(i) Fluid flow across the mouth of a deep rectangular cavity can cause powerful acoustic
tones to be produced.
(ii) The frequencies of the tones correspond in most cases to the fundamental acoustic
resonance of the cavity excited by pressure fluctuations at the mouth.
(iii) These resonant frequencies are in close agreement with the theoretical predictions
of Plumblee et al.
(iv) The tones will be produced only when the shear layer oscillations are amplified by
acoustic coupling between the shear layer pressure fluctuations and the cavity modes.
(v) The inferred shear layer feed-back causes amplification of certain frequencies which
in non-dimensional terms results in particular values of Strouhal number.
(vi) The values of Strouhal number are shown to be consistent with Rossiter’s empirical
equation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Dr. D. J. Maul1 for helpful discussions and Mr. M. F. Bott
who computed the values of R and X. He is also grateful to the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research who supplied a maintenance grant and to the National Coal
Board for an additional grant towards apparatus.

REFERENCES
I. D. J. MAULL and L. F. EAST 19633. Fluid Mech. 16,620. Three-dimensional flow in cavities.
2. K. KRISHNAMURTY 1955 NACA TN 3487. Acoustic radiation from two-dimensional rectangular
cutouts in aerodynamic surfaces.
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