Stability of a subsonic gas microjet.

The stability of and the laminar-turbulent transition in a plane subsonic helium microjet flowing out into the atmosphere is studied experimentally. The microjet experiences both natural perturbations and controlled periodic acoustic effects. The averaged and instantaneous flow fields are visualized using the Schlieren method and particle tracking method. The pulsation parameters of the mass flow rate are measured, and data for nonlinear interaction between the perturbations at the laminar-turbulent transition in the microstructure are obtained by bispectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]