Aeroacoustics of a steam kettle

A whistling steam kettle consists of a plug at the end of a spout. The
simplest form of the plug has two discs separated by a space with a hole in
the middle of each disc. When steam from boiling water rushes through the plug
an intense high-pitch tonal sound is produced. The aim of this project is to
develop a model to explain the physics of the whistling mechanism. A whistle
is produced because of a feedback mechanism that couples aerodynamics with
acoustics.

This project will involve a combination of experimental and
theoretical work. The experiment would involve flow visualisation through a
transparent spout-plug system and hot-wire and microphone measurements to
quantify flow speeds and acoustic frequencies.