The twin-jet configuration allows two different scenarios to close the screech feedback. For each jet, there is one loop involving disturbances which originate in that jet and arrive at its own receptivity point in phase (self-excitation). The other loop is associated with free-stream acoustic waves that radiate from the other jet, reinforcing the self-excited screech (cross-excitation). In this work, the role of the free-stream acoustic mode and the guided-jet mode as a closure mechanism for twin rectangular jet screech is explored by identifying eligible points of return for each path, where upstream waves propagating from such a point arrive at the receptivity location with an appropriate phase relation. Screech tones generated by these jets are found to be intermittent with an out-of-phase coupling as a dominant coupling mode. The instantaneous phase difference between the twin jets computed by the Hilbert transform suggests that a competition between out-of-phase and in-phase coupling is responsible for the intermittency. To model wave components of the screech feedback while ensuring perfect phase locking, an ensemble average of leading spectral proper orthogonal decomposition modes is obtained from several segments of large-eddy simulation data that correspond to periods of invariant phase difference between the two jets. Each mode is then extracted by retaining relevant wavenumber components produced via a streamwise Fourier transform. Spatial cross-correlation analysis of the resulting modes shows that most of the identified points of return for the cross-excitation are synchronised with the guided jet mode self-excitation, supporting that it is preferred in closing rectangular twin-jet screech coupling.

The influence of the boundary layer (BL) thickness on the tonal noise generated by subsonic impinging jets is investigated. For that, initially laminar jets at Mach numbers $0.6$ and $0.9$ with BL thicknesses $0.05r_0$, $0.1r_0$ and $0.2r_0$, where $r_0$ is the pipe-nozzle radius, impinging on a plate at $6r_0$ from the nozzle, are simulated. For Mach number $0.9$, acoustic tones due to feedback loops of axisymmetric nature between the nozzle and the plate are generated at frequencies that do not vary with the BL thickness. The two dominant tones are, however, $17$ and $26\ \mathrm {dB}$ stronger for the thickest BL compared with the thinnest one. For Mach number $0.6$, for the thinnest BL no acoustic peaks appear, as observed in the experiments of the literature, but narrow peaks resulting from axisymmetric feedback loops emerge for thicker BLs. Therefore, low subsonic impinging jets can be resonant for specific nozzle-exit conditions. The increase in tone amplitude for Mach number $0.9$, and the establishment of feedback loops for Mach number $0.6$ with increasing BL thickness, are found to result from two changes in the jet flow. The first change is that the shear-layer laminar–turbulent transition occurs farther downstream for a thicker BL, leading to a greater predominance of the axisymmetric aerodynamic fluctuations near the plate. The second change is that the amplification of the flow fluctuations between the nozzle and the plate at the tone frequencies is stronger for thicker BLs.

We study coherent structures in subsonic turbulent jets subject to a flight stream. A thorough characterisation of the effects of a flight stream on the turbulent field was recently performed by Maia et al. (Phys. Rev. Fluids, vol. 8, 2023, 063902) and fluctuation energy attenuations were observed over a broad range of frequencies and azimuthal wavenumbers. The Kelvin–Helmholtz, Orr and lift-up mechanisms were all shown to be weakened by the flight stream. Here we expand upon that study and model the changes in the dynamics of jets in flight using global resolvent analysis. The resolvent model is found to correctly capture the main effects of the flight stream on the dynamics of coherent structures, which are educed from a large-eddy simulation database using spectral proper orthogonal decomposition. Three modifications of note are: the damping of low-frequency streaky/Orr structures that carry most of the fluctuation energy; a degradation of the low-rank behaviour of the jet in frequencies where modal instability mechanisms are dominant; and a rank decrease at very low Strouhal numbers. The latter effect is underpinned by larger gain separations predicted by the resolvent analysis, due to a reduction in the wavelength of associated flow structures. This leads to a clearer relative dominance of streaky structures generated by the lift-up mechanism, despite the fact that the lift-up mechanism has been weakened with respect to the static jet.

Heated supersonic rectangular twin jets (SRTJ) with a total temperature ratio of 2, using nozzles of design Mach number 1.5 and aspect ratio 2, were investigated in flow regimes from overexpanded to the design condition (Mj = 1.3–1.5). This work complements our recently published work in unheated SRTJ using the same experimental facility (Samimy et al., J. Fluid Mech, vol. 959, 2023, A13). Localized arc filament plasma actuators (LAFPAs) were used to excite the natural instabilities in the jets, thereby controlling the flow and acoustics. The results show that the jets were coupled primarily out-of-phase in overexpanded cases, that the coupling had significant effects on the near-field (NF) pressure fluctuations, and that these fluctuations were considerably higher for in-phase than for out-of-phase coupled cases. The results also revealed that the far-field (FF) overall sound pressure level is significantly higher on the minor axis plane of the SRTJ and that the onset of Mach wave radiation contributes to the increased acoustic radiation at the peak noise direction. The LAFPAs successfully controlled the coupling and were able to reduce the NF pressure fluctuations by 10 dB. However, only 1 to 2 dB FF noise reduction at the peak noise radiation direction was achieved. The overall trends of the baseline results and response of the flow to excitation are qualitatively similar in unheated and heated cases, but the details are significantly different.

The aeroacoustic feedback loops in high-speed circular jets that impinge on a large flat plate are investigated via acoustic measurements and schlieren visualizations. In the present experiments, the nozzle pressure ratio ranges from 1.39 to 2.20, the corresponding ideally expanded jet Mach number $M_j$ is from 0.70 to 1.12 and the nozzle-to-plate distance ($H$) is from 4.0$D$ to 6.0$D$, where $D$ is the nozzle exit diameter. The results of acoustic measurements show that the strongest tones are generated in a limited frequency band. The empirical dispersion relations obtained from the fluctuating greyscales along the jet centreline of time-resolved schlieren images have good agreement with the dispersion relations from the vortex-sheet model. The coherent flow structures at tonal frequencies are extracted by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition and are analysed in detail. For the $M_j<0.82$ jets, the upstream-propagating guided jet mode is progressively confined to the potential core of jets with increasing tonal frequency, which provides the first direct experimental support for theoretical results. The evolution in the structures of acoustic resonance loops is studied along a single frequency stage of axisymmetric impinging tones. When the acoustic resonance between the upstream- and downstream-propagating guided jet modes is formed at tonal frequencies, the impinging tones are intenser. Slightly underexpanded impinging jets can simultaneously produce impingement tones and screech tones. Shock-cell structures have modulatory effects on the downstream-propagating Kelvin–Helmholtz wavepacket and the upstream- and downstream-propagating guided jet modes. Due to the interaction between the flow structures at the frequencies of impinging and screech tones, tones of axisymmetric modes can be produced outside the frequency ranges in which the axisymmetric upstream-propagating guided jet modes are supported by jets.

There is currently considerable interest in the guided-jet mode, as a result of recent works demonstrating it being the upstream component of various resonant systems in high-speed flows. For given jet operating conditions, the mode is known to exist over only a finite-frequency range that, for a twin-jet system, has been observed to vary with both jet separation and solution symmetry. Vortex-sheet and finite-thickness linear stability models are here employed to consider the behaviour of the guided-jet mode as the two jets are brought together, for both a planar and round twin-jet system. It is demonstrated that in both cases as the twin-jet system merges it forms a higher-order mode of an equivalent single-jet geometry. This then imposes a constraint on the guided-jet mode as the finite-frequency range must change to meet that of the equivalent geometry the system merges to, explaining the previously observed dependence on jet separation.

A computational analysis is performed to study the three-dimensional response of rectangular shear layers to plasma actuator-based control, in the context of sound mitigation of supersonic non-axisymmetric jets. A Mach $1.5$ rectangular jet with an aspect ratio $2:1$ is controlled using experimentally informed actuation patterns, referred to as M0, M1, M2, M3, M${\rm \pi}$ and M+/$-$1. While the first five progressively increase the phase difference between successive actuators thus enhancing three-dimensionality of the shear layer structures, the latter corresponds to the flapping mode of the jet. A preliminary linear analysis identifies that the frequency, $St\sim 1$, has a relatively high overall amplification within the baseline shear layer, and is hence utilized for control in the subsequent nonlinear simulations. Each actuation reveals unique near-field vortical and acoustic responses that have a profound impact on far-field noise levels. The M0 actuation induces circumferentially interconnected strong streamwise vortices, while M1 actuation enhances the circumferential variability in the coherent structures. The M2 actuation encompasses both these effects, and along with a very low tonal impact of forcing, produces the most desirable far-field noise mitigation (${\sim }2.6\,{\rm dB}$), contributed by a broadband reduction around the column-mode peak of the baseline jet. Beyond M2 actuation, effectiveness of control saturates, particularly along the direction of peak noise radiation. Through a near-field analysis of the acoustic component, the efficacy of M2 actuation is attributed to the attenuation of the radiative efficiency of the jet, including reduced energy in the supersonic phase speeds, and redistribution of energy into the higher helical modes. Further, it curtails the nonlinear difference interactions in the plume that energize column-mode frequencies, which often appear as strong intermittent sound-producing events. While the shear layer turbulent kinetic energy decreases with actuation, the controlled jets show minimal variations in mean flow properties, particularly under M2 actuation, suggesting this to be a promising small-perturbation-based noise control strategy.

A data-driven framework using snapshots of an uncontrolled flow is proposed to identify, and subsequently demonstrate, effective control strategies for different objectives in supersonic impinging jets. The open-loop, feed-forward control approach, based on a dynamic mode decomposition reduced-order model (DMD-ROM), computes forcing receptivity in an economical manner by projecting flow and actuator-specific forcing snapshots onto a reduced subspace and then evolving the dynamics forwards in time. Since it effectively determines a linear response around the unsteady flow in the time domain, the method differs materially from typical techniques that use steady basic states, such as stability or input–output approaches that employ linearized Navier–Stokes operators in the frequency domain. The method presented naturally accounts for factors inherent to the snapshot basis, including configuration complexity and flow parameters such as Reynolds number. Furthermore, gain metrics calculated in the reduced subspace facilitate rapid assessments of flow sensitivities to a wide range of forcing parameters, from which optimal actuator inputs may be selected and results confirmed in scale-resolved simulations or experiments. The DMD-ROM approach is demonstrated from two different perspectives. The first concerns asymptotic feedback resonance, where the effects of harmonic pressure forcing are estimated and verified with nonlinear simulations using a blowing–suction actuator. The second examines time-local behaviour within critical feedback events, where the phase of actuation becomes important. For this, a conditional space–time mode is used to identify the optimal forcing phase that minimizes convective instability growth within the resonance cycle.

Linear stability theory (LST) is often used to model the large-scale flow structures in the turbulent mixing region and near pressure field of high-speed jets. For perfectly expanded single round jets, these models predict the dominance of azimuthal wavenumbers $m=0$ and $m = 1$ helical modes for the lower frequency range, in agreement with empirical data. When LST is applied to twin-jet systems, four solution families appear following the odd/even behaviour of the pressure field about the symmetry planes. The interaction between the unsteady pressure fields of the two jets also results in their coupling. The individual modes of the different solution families no longer correspond to helical motions, but to flapping oscillations of the jet plumes. In the limit of large jet separations, when the jet coupling vanishes, the eigenvalues corresponding to the $m=1$ mode in each family are identical, and a linear combination of them recovers the helical motion. Conversely, as the jet separation decreases, the eigenvalues for the $m=1$ modes of each family diverge, thus favouring a particular flapping oscillation over the others and preventing the appearance of helical motions. The dominant mode of oscillation for a given jet Mach number $M_j$ and temperature ratio $T_R$ depends on the Strouhal number $St$ and jet separation $s$. Increasing both $M_j$ and $T_R$ independently is found to augment the jet coupling and modify the $(St,s)$ map of the preferred oscillation mode. Present results predict the preference of two modes when the jet interaction is relevant, namely varicose and especially sinuous flapping oscillations on the nozzles’ plane.

This paper investigates the nonlinear evolution and acoustic radiation of coherent structures (CS) in the near-nozzle region of a subsonic turbulent circular jet. A CS is taken to be a wavepacket consisting of multiple ring/helical modes, which are considered to be inviscid instability waves supported by the mean-flow profile. As the three-dimensionality of helical modes is weak in the near-nozzle region, the ring and helical modes with the same frequency have nearly the same growth rates and critical levels. They coexist and interact with each other in their common critical layer at high Reynolds numbers. The self and mutual quadratic interactions generate a mean-flow distortion and streaks, which act back on the fundamental components through the cubic interaction. The amplitude of the CS is governed by an integro-partial-differential equation, a significant feature of which is that differentiations with respect to the azimuthal coordinate appear in the history-dependent nonlinear terms. The non-parallelism of the mean flow as well as the impact of fine-scale turbulence on CS are taken into account and found to affect the nonlinear terms. By solving the amplitude equation, the development of the constituting modes, streamwise vortices and streaks are described. For CS consisting of frequency sideband, low-frequency components are excited nonlinearly and amplify to reach a considerable level. By analysing the large-distance asymptote of the perturbation, the low-frequency acoustic waves are found to be emitted by the temporally–spatially varying mean-flow distortion and streaks generated by the nonlinear interactions of the CS, and are thereby determined on the basis of first principles. Interestingly, the energetic part of the streaky structure that contributes to the nonlinear dynamics does not radiate directly, and instead the Reynolds stresses driving the subdominant radiating components represent the true physical sources.

We construct reduced-order models of aeroacoustic sources for single and twin subsonic jets ($M_j=0.9$, $Re=3600$), with the goal of accurately recovering the far-field sound over a wide band of frequencies $St=[0.07,1.0]$ and directivity angles $\phi = [30^{\circ },120^{\circ }]$ within a subdecibel level accuracy. These models are realized via combining spatio-temporally coherent spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) modes extracted directly from Lighthill's stress tensor, itself calculated using large-eddy simulation (LES). We consider two sets of twin subsonic jets of diameter $D$ each, with spacings of $0.1D$ and $1D$, where the jets merge upstream and downstream of breakdown, respectively. The closely spaced twin jet decays the slowest due to reduced turbulent stresses which are, however, more broadband due to early merging. Such jets show strong shielding in the plane of jets, especially at shallow directivity angles where sound levels may drop below that of the single jet. The farther spaced twin jets have dynamics more akin to the constituent single jet with turbulent fluctuations peaking here at $St=0.34$, but showing very little shielding, with their overall sound pressure level (OASPL) mostly linked to the nature of extra flow structures created during merging. Three-dimensional, energy-ranked, coherent structures for twin jets exhibit rather poor low-rank behaviour, especially at the far-field spectral peak $St=0.14$. At $St \gtrsim 0.3$, the SPOD wavepackets show strong visual coherence, resembling Kelvin–Helmholtz instability modes upstream of breakdown, while at the lower frequencies, there is very little spatial coherence with wavepackets peaking downstream of breakdown. Although the leading SPOD modes radiate poorly, reduced-order models using a subset of them, up to $45$ SPOD modes per frequency, show a remarkable match (within $1$ dB) against the LES-predicted sound over $0.1 \lesssim St \lesssim 0.5$, at all angles investigated. At other frequencies, the closely spaced twin jet shows more error, due to its greater hierarchy of spatio-temporal structures, showing slower convergence at the shallower angles.

Modelling the noise emitted by turbulent jets is made difficult by their acoustic inefficiency: only a tiny fraction of the near-field turbulent kinetic energy is propagated to the far field as acoustic waves. As a result, jet-noise models must accurately capture this small, acoustically efficient component hidden among comparatively inefficient fluctuations. In this paper, we identify this acoustically efficient near-field source from large-eddy simulation data and use it to inform a predictive model. Our approach uses the resolvent framework, in which the source takes the form of nonlinear fluctuation terms that act as a forcing on the linearised Navier–Stokes equations. First, we identify the forcing that, when acted on by the resolvent operator, produces the leading spectral proper orthogonal decomposition modes in the acoustic field for a Mach 0.4 jet. Second, the radiating components of this forcing are isolated by retaining only portions with a supersonic phase speed. This component makes up less than 0.05 % of the total forcing energy but generates most of the acoustic response, especially at peak (downstream) radiation angles. Finally, we propose an empirical model for the identified acoustically efficient forcing components. The model is tested at other Mach numbers and flight-stream conditions and predicts noise within 2 dB accuracy for a range of frequencies, downstream angles and flight conditions.

Spatial linear stability analysis is used to study the axisymmetric screech tones generated by twin converging round nozzles at low supersonic Mach numbers. Vortex-sheet and finite-thickness models allow for identification of the different waves supported by the flow at different conditions. Regions of the frequency–wavenumber domain for which the upstream-propagating guided jet modes are observed to be neutrally stable are observed to vary as a function of solution symmetry, jet separation, $S$, and the velocity profile used. Screech-frequency predictions performed using wavenumbers obtained from both models agree well with experimental data. Predictions obtained from the finite-thickness model better align with the screech tones measured experimentally and so are seen to be an improvement on predictions made with the vortex sheet. Additionally, results from the finite-thickness model predict both symmetric and antisymmetric screech tones for low $S$ that are found in the vortex-sheet model only at greater $S$. The present results indicate that the feedback loop generating these screech tones is similar to that observed for single-jet resonance, with equivalent upstream and downstream modes.

We perform a computational study on the effects of localized arc filament plasma actuator based control on the flow field and acoustics of a supersonic 2:1 aspect ratio rectangular jet. Post validation of the baseline jet, effects of control in the context of noise reduction are studied at experimentally guided forcing parameters, including frequencies $St=0.3, 1.0$ and $St=2.0$ with duty cycles of $20\,\%$ and $50\,\%$. In general, high-frequency forcing reduces noise in the downstream direction, with the actuator signature appearing mostly in the sideline direction. Here $St=1$, ${\rm DC}=50\,\%$ yields an optimum balance between peak noise reduction (of ${\sim }1.5$ dB) and actuator tones, with control being most effective on the major axis plane that bisects the shorter edges of the nozzle. Shear layer response to the most effective forcing includes generation of successive arrays of mutually interacting staggered lambda vortices, which eventually energize streamwise vortical elements. Causal mechanisms of noise mitigation are further elucidated as follows. First, the control reduces the energy within the supersonic phase speed regime of peak radiating frequencies by redistributing a part of it into a high-frequency band. Second, it enhances azimuthal percolation of energy into the first and second helical modes at frequencies where noise reduction is seen, thus weakening the radiatively efficient axisymmetric mode. Finally, sound-producing intermittent events in the jet are significantly reduced, thereby minimizing the high-intensity acoustic emissions. This small-perturbation-based control strategy results in only minor variations in the mean flow properties. However, reduced production and enhanced convection attenuate turbulent kinetic energy within the spreading shear layer in the controlled jet.

This work deals with the investigation and modelling of wall pressure fluctuations induced by a supersonic jet over a tangential flat plate. The analysis is performed at several nozzle pressure ratios around the nozzle design Mach number, including slightly over-expanded and under-expanded conditions, and for different radial positions of the rigid plate. Pitot measurements and flow visualizations through the background oriented schlieren technique provided a general overview of the aerodynamic interactions between the jet flow and the plate at the different regimes and configurations. Wall pressure fluctuations were measured using a couple of piezoelectric pressure transducers flush mounted over the plate surface. The spectral analysis has been carried out to clarify the effect of the plate position on the single and multivariate wall pressure statistics, including the screech tone amplitude. The experimental dataset is used to assess and validate a surrogate model based on artificial neural networks. Sound pressure levels and coherence functions are modelled by means of a single fully connected network, built on the basis of a recently implemented fully deterministic topology optimization algorithm. The metamodel uncertainty is also quantified using the spatial correlation function. It is shown that the flow behaviour as well as the screech and broadband noise signatures are significantly influenced by the presence of the plate, and the effects on spectral quantities are correctly reproduced by the proposed data-driven model that provides predictions in agreement with the available data.

In this paper, the acoustic resonance mechanism for different axisymmetric screech modes of the underexpanded jets that impinge on an inclined plate is investigated experimentally. The ideally expanded Mach number of jets ($M_j$) ranges from 1.05 to 1.56. The nozzle-to-plate distance at the jet axis and the impingement angle are respectively set as 5.0$D$ and $30^{\circ }$, where $D$ is the nozzle exit diameter. The acoustic results show that the $M_j$ range for the A2 screech mode of impinging jets is broader than that of underexpanded free jets, and a new axisymmetric screech mode A3 appears. With the increase of $M_j$, the effect of the impinging plate on the shock cell structures of jets becomes obvious gradually, and the second suboptimal peaks are evident in the axial wavenumber spectra of mean shock structures. The coherent flow structures at screech frequencies are extracted from time-resolved schlieren images via the spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD). The axial wavenumber spectra of the selected SPOD modes suggest that the A1, A2 and A3 screech modes are respectively closed by the guided jet modes that are energized by the interactions between the Kelvin–Helmholtz wavepacket and the first three shock wavenumber peaks. The upstream- and downstream-propagating waves that constitute the screech feedback loop are analysed by applying wavenumber filters to the wavenumber spectra of SPOD modes. The frequencies of these three screech modes can be predicted by the phase constraints between the nozzle exit and the rear edge of the third shock cell. For the A3 mode, the inclined plate invades the third shock cell with the increase of $M_j$, and the phase constraint cannot be satisfied at the lower side of the jets, which leads the A3 mode to fade away. The present results suggest that external boundaries can modulate the frequency and mode of jet screech by changing the axial spacings of shock cells.

An analytical model is developed to study the sound produced by the interaction between shock and instability waves in two-dimensional supersonic jet flows. The jet is considered to be of vortex-sheet type and two-dimensional Euler equations are linearized to determine the governing equations for shock and instability waves and their interaction. Pack's model is used to describe shock waves, while instability waves are calculated using spatial stability analysis. The interaction between shock and instability waves can be solved analytically by performing Fourier transform and subsequently using the method of steepest descent. Sound produced by the interaction between the instability wave and a single shock cell is studied first, after which that due to a number of cells follows. We find that the model developed in this study can correctly predict the frequencies of the fundamental screech tone and its first and second harmonics. We show that the predicted sound directivity, even from a single shock cell, is in good agreement with experimental data. In particular, this model shows the strongest noise emission close to the upstream direction but the emitted noise starts to rapidly decay as the observer angle approaches $180^\circ$, which is in accordance with experimental results; this suggests that the effective noise from a single shock cell is far from of the monopole type as assumed in the classical Powell's model. We find that the noise directivity is very sensitive to the local growth rate of the instability waves and the noise is generated primarily through the Mach wave mechanism.

Shock-containing supersonic jets undergoing resonance processes are challenging from both a measurement and simulation perspective. These jets are host to a broad range of complex fluid phenomena: intense acoustic waves, turbulence, wavepackets and strong shock waves. Strong shocks present a challenge to both the experimental and numerical researcher. In the paper of Léon et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 947, 2022, A36), a novel optical technique based on multi-axis digital holographic interferometry is applied to the study of a highly underexpanded screeching jet, producing density measurements of unprecedented clarity and resolution. Where prior studies have been restricted to extrapolating the three-dimensional field from two-dimensional slices or projections, in this work the authors directly measure the three-dimensional helical structure of the wavepacket associated with jet screech.

The interactions between upstream-propagating guided jet waves and shear-layer instability waves near the nozzle of subsonic and nearly ideally expanded supersonic, isothermal free jets are investigated for jets at Mach numbers between 0.50 and 2 with fully laminar exit boundary layers of different thicknesses. The velocity spectra in the shear layers downstream of the nozzle exhibit strong narrow peaks for the first azimuthal modes, associated with growing Kelvin–Helmholtz instability waves. The frequencies of the predominant peaks are close, but not necessarily equal, to those of the most amplified instability waves predicted from the mean flow fields using linear stability analysis. They also fall in most cases within or very near the allowable frequency bands of the free-stream upstream-propagating guided jet waves obtained using a vortex-sheet model and jump from one band to another as the Mach number increases. At these frequencies, moreover, high levels organized into elongated stripes are found in the jet potential core and standing-wave patterns are visible at the edges of the shear layers in the power spectral densities of pressure and velocity fluctuations. Therefore, the free-stream upstream-propagating guided jet waves appear to interact with and excite the instability waves near the nozzle of the present jets, as in screeching and impinging jets. This explains the disparities of the frequencies and azimuthal modes of the instability waves dominating early on in the shear layers of initially laminar jets and their discontinuous changes and staging behaviours as the jet velocity varies.

This paper describes the mechanism underpinning modal staging behaviour in screeching jets. An upstream-propagating subsonic guided-jet mode is shown to be active in all stages of screech. Axial variation of shock-cell spacing manifests in the spectral domain as a series of suboptimal peaks. It is demonstrated that the guided-jet mode may be energized by interactions of the Kelvin–Helmholtz wavepacket with not only the primary shock wavenumber peak, but also suboptimal peaks; interaction with suboptimals is shown to be responsible for closing the resonance loop in multiple stages of jet screech. A consideration of the full spectral representation of the shocks reconciles several of the classical models and results for jet screech that had heretofore been paradoxical. It is demonstrated that there are multiple standing waves present in the near field of screeching jets, corresponding to the superposition of the various waves active in these jets. Multimodal behaviour is explored for jets in a range of conditions, demonstrating that multiple peaks in the frequency spectra can be due to either changes in which peak of the shock spectra the Kelvin–Helmholtz wavepacket is interacting with, or a change in azimuthal mode, or both. The absence of modal staging in high-aspect-ratio non-axisymmetric jets is also explained in the context of the aforementioned mechanism. The paper closes with a new proposed theory for frequency selection in screeching jets, based on the observation that these triadic interactions appear to underpin selection of the guided-jet mode wavelength in all measured cases.