Wind tunnel investigation of sound attenuation in turbulent flow

Abstract Wind tunnel investigation of the sound wave attenuation by grid-generated turbulence is performed. The most influential parameters, such as the propagation distance, intensity of turbulent fluctuations and integral scale of the fluctuations are studied using an ultrasonic technique. The results are compared to the theoretical predictions available on the wave statistics. Theoretical predictions are well confirmed and partly extended. It is demonstrated that the ultrasonic technique provides the possibility of reproducing the main effects of atmospheric turbulence on sound propagation while benefiting from isolating the role of various parameters therefore sets of experimental data can be generated under laboratory conditions to benchmark further extensions of theoretical models and numerical simulations.