Statistics of phase fluctuations of an acoustic wave propagating through a turbulent flow

Abstract

We investigate the statistics of phase fluctuations of an acoustic wave propagating through a turbulent flow in line of sight (LOS) configuration. Experiments are performed on a closed von Karman swirling flow whose boundaries are maintained at a constant temperature. In particular, we analyze the root mean square (RMS) and the power spectrum density (PSD) of phase fluctuations. A model is developed and analytical predictions obtained for these quantities using geometrical acoustics are shown to be in agreement with experimental observations.