Control of cavity flow oscillations by high frequency forcing

Time resolved two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (2DPIV) experiments have been conducted to contribute to the understanding of the physics governing the suppression mechanism of cavity flow self-sustained oscillations by means of high frequency excitation of the cavity shear layer. High frequency excitation was introduced by the spanwise coherent vortex shedding in the wake of a cylindrical rod positioned just upstream the cavity entrance, at the edge of the incoming boundary layer. The effectiveness of this suppression was demonstrated for a cavity having the length-to-depth ratio equal to three, in incompressible flow. The spatial and time resolved PIV measurements of the whole flow field in the plane normal to the cavity floor, linear stability analysis of the measured shear layer mean velocity profiles, and preliminary PIV measurements in a plane parallel to the cavity allowed us to offer a better insight into the involved physical mechanisms in suppressing cavity self-sustained oscillations.