The Contributions of John M. Seiner towards Aeroacoustic Facilities and Experimental Techniques

Abstract

John M. “Jack” Seiner leaves behind a legacy of contributions to the science of Aeroacoustics. This memorial article concentrates on his contributions to the facilities and instrumentation he conceived, developed, and utilized to forward our understanding of jet noise, supersonic flows, and related acoustic issues. From his earliest days at NASA Langley Research Center in 1974, Jack worked to understand the physics of the problems he studied and strove to correctly model the physics of the problem at hand correctly in the laboratory. For jet noise research, this drove the requirement that the facility had to provide heated air to the model nozzle. Jack believed in the future of computational fluid dynamics and supported the development of codes to calculate shock containing jets and later advancements. When a facility capability or experimental technique did not exist to answer his questions, he worked to secure funding and develop these capabilities and techniques to demonstrate their value to aeroacoustic research. He was a pioneer in the study of twin-plume resonance and using propane fueled burners to achieve realistic jet plume conditions in the laboratory.