Frequency selection mechanisms in the flow of a laminar boundary layer over a shallow cavity

We investigate the flow over shallow cavities as a representative configuration for modeling small surface irregularities in wall-bounded shear flows. Due to the globally stable nature of the flow, we perform a frequency response analysis, which shows a significant potential for the amplification of disturbance kinetic energy by harmonic forcing within a certain frequency band. Shorter and more shallow cavities exhibit less amplified responses, while energy from the base flow can be extracted predominantly from forcing that impacts the cavity head on. A structural sensitivity analysis, combined with a componentwise decomposition of the sensitivity tensor, reveals the regions of the flow that act most effectively as amplifiers. We find that the flow inside the cavity plays a negligible role, whereas boundary layer modifications immediately upstream and downstream of the cavity edges contribute significantly to the frequency response. The same regions constitute preferred locations for implementing active or passive control strategies to manipulate the frequency response of the flow.