The powered resonance tube: From Hartmann's discovery to current active flow control applications

Hartmann discovered the resonance tube phenomenon in 1918. Although researchers have conducted extensive studies on this topic during the intervening 90 years, no single resource lists, analyzes, synthesizes and interprets the vast body of findings. This review offers a consolidated resource tracing development of the Hartmann tube from discovery to recent advances in understanding, prediction and application of the resonance tube. This review (a) serves as a literature resource for researchers from diverse areas, (b) provides a critical assessment of the state of the art, and (c) provides examples of the vast possibilities for applying this device. Controlled flow-induced resonance can produce high-amplitude dynamic pressures and acoustic emission over a range of frequencies. Studies on Such acoustic generators interested researchers during the last half of the 20th century. Hartmann demonstrated the possibility of obtaining high acoustic efficiencies when a jet is aimed at the open end of a tube closed at the other end. His work led to numerous other studies-some that examined the physics and others that developed geometric variants and explored industrial applications. In the last decade there has been renewed interest in powered resonance tubes (PRT) because of their potential as active flow control actuators. This article also evaluates the success of flow-control strategies using PRTs, and attempts to identify promising PRT applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.