On the sound sources of screech tones radiated from choked circular jets.

The generation mechanism of the screech tone in the helical oscillation mode is mainly investigated using a series of instantaneous schlieren photographs. From the photographs, five evanescent sound sources are observed as prominent points along the jet axis. The sound source for the dominant helical oscillation mode is found to be the second prominent point which moves along a circular orbit in a plane perpendicular to the jet axis and just downstream of the rear edge of the third shock cell. It is shown that the speed of a moving sound source is supersonic and that the Mach cone generated by the moving sound source forms the helical-shaped wave front of the screech tone for the helical oscillation mode of the jet. This idea of the moving sound source is well supported by a measured directionality of the screech tone. Sound sources of the other oscillation modes appearing in the other pressure ratio ranges are also described.