Scattering of Tollmien-Schlichting waves by localized roughness in transonic boundary layers

The laminar-turbulent transition in boundary-layer flows is often affected by wall imperfections, because the latter may interact with either the freestream perturbations or the oncoming boundary-layer instability modes, leading to a modification of the accumulation of the normal modes. The present paper particularly focuses on the latter mechanism in a transonic boundary layer, namely, the effect of a two-dimensional(2 D) roughness element on the oncoming Tollmien-Schlichting(T-S) modes when they propagate through the region of the rapid mean-flow distortion induced by the roughness. The wave scattering is analyzed by adapting the local scattering theory developed for subsonic boundary layers(WU, X. S. and DONG, M. A local scattering theory for the effects of isolated roughness on boundary-layer instability and transition: transmission coefficient as an eigenvalue. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 794, 68–108(2006)) to the transonic regime, and a transmission coefficient is introduced to characterize the effect of the roughness. In the sub-transonic regime, in which the Mach number is close to, but less than, 1, the scattering system reduces to an eigenvalue problem with the transmission coefficient being the eigenvalue; while in the super-transonic regime, in which the Mach number is slightly greater than 1, the scattering system becomes a high-dimensional group of linear equations with the transmission coefficient being solved afterward. In the largeReynolds-number asymptotic theory, the K′arm′an-Guderley parameter is introduced to quantify the effect of the Mach number. A systematical parametric study is carried out,and the dependence of the transmission coefficient on the roughness shape, the frequency of the oncoming mode, and the K′arm′an-Guderley parameter is provided.     

Effect of surface steps on boundary layer transition

An experimental study has been carried out to examine the effect of a sharp-edged step on boundary layer transition. The transition position and disturbance spectra in the boundary layer for different step heights and free-stream velocities were measured by hot-wire anemometry. A correlation between the transition Reynolds number and the relative step height has been established for both backward-facing and forward-facing steps. The transition position is associated with the “N-factor” that defines the integrated growth of instability waves at transition. The boundary layer over a step has an earlier transition position than that on a smooth plate, since the instability waves amplify more rapidly than those on a smooth surface. The transition N-factor for the flow containing a step, calculated using the amplification rates on a smooth plate, will, therefore, be smaller than that on surfaces without a step. The observed reduction of the N-factor occurring with a step has been shown to correlate with the height of the step, thus, providing an empirical tool that can be used to estimate the transition position when steps occur. An appropriate value of N can be determined from knowledge of the step height.     

Boundary-layer receptivity under interaction of free-stream turbulence and localized wall roughness

The boundary-layer receptivity under the interaction of free-stream turbu- lence (FST) and localized wall roughness is studied by the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and the fast Fourier transform. The results show that the Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) wave packets superposed by a group of stability, neutral, and instability T-S waves are generated in the boundary layer. The propagation speeds of the T-S wave packets are calculated. The relation among the boundary-layer receptivity response, the amplitude of the FST, the roughness height, and the roughness width is determined. The results agree well with Dietz’s experiments. The effect of the roughness geometries on the receptivity is also studied.     

Flow visualization of supersonic laminar flow over a backward-facing step via NPLS

An experimental study on a supersonic laminar flow over a backward-facing step of 5 mm height was undertaken in a low-noise indraft wind tunnel. To investigate the fine structures of Ma = 3.0 and 3.8 laminar flow over a backward-facing step, nanotracer planar laser scattering was adopted for flow visualization. Flow structures, including supersonic laminar boundary layer, separation, reattachment, redeveloping turbulent boundary layer, expansion wave fan and reattachment shock, were revealed in the transient flow fields. In the Ma = 3.0 BFS (backward-facing step) flow, by measuring four typical regions, it could be found that the emergence of weak shock waves was related to the K–H (Kelvin–Helmholtz) vortex which appeared in the free shear layer and that the convergence of these waves into a reattachment shock was distinct. Based on large numbers of measurements, the structure of time-averaging flow field could be gained. Reattachment occurred at the location downstream from the step, about 7–7.5 h distance. After reattachment, the recovery boundary layer developed into turbulence quickly and its thickness increased at an angle of 4.6°. At the location of X = 14h, the redeveloping boundary layer was about ten times thicker than its original thickness, but it still had not changed into fully developed turbulence. However, in the Ma = 3.8 flow, the emergence of weak shock waves could be seen seldom, due to the decrease of expansion. The reattachment point was thought to be near X = 15h according to the averaging result. The reattachment shock was not legible, which meant the expansion and compression effects were not intensive.     

Scattering of obliquely incident waves by straight features in a plate

The scattering of obliquely incident waves by straight features in a plate is solved analytically. The reflection matrix of a free straight edge and the scattering matrix of a straight thickness step are obtained respectively by modal decomposition based on a real orthogonal relation. The formulas are illustrated through numerical examples. The matrices are found to be Hermitian for the propagating modes; thus, the mode conversions are reciprocal in terms of energy. The matrices can be used to determine the scattering from more complicated straight features if the cross sections are approximated as sequences of stairs and steps.     

Improved laminar predictions using a stabilised time-dependent simple scheme

A new scheme which can solve unsteady incompressible flows is described in this paper. The scheme is a variant of the SIMPLE methodology. Typically, a scheme of this type tends to suffer from stability problems, which this new scheme overcomes by taking small intermediate steps within a time step. The calculations made in the intermediate steps are damped to enhance the stability of the scheme. The new stabilised scheme is evaluated for laminar flow around a square cylinder, impulsively started laminar flow over a backward-facing step and fluctuating laminar flow over a backward-facing step. Comparisons are made with other numerical predictions and experimental data. In general, good agreement is found, except for the fluctuating laminar flow over a backward-facing step problem. The new scheme is found to have the same level of accuracy, stability and efficiency in comparison with the PISO scheme, but it is easier to code. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PSE as applied to problems of secondary instability in supersonic boundary layers

Parabolized stability equations (PSE) approach is used to investigate prob-lems of secondary instability in supersonic boundary layers. The results show that the mechanism of secondary instability does work, whether the 2-D fundamental disturbance is of the first mode or second mode T-S wave. The variation of the growth rates of the 3-D sub-harmonic wave against its span-wise wave number and the amplitude of the 2-D fundamental wave is found to be similar to those found in incompressible boundary layers. But even as the amplitude of the 2-D wave is as large as the order 2%, the maximum growth rate of the 3-D sub-harmonic is still much smaller than the growth rate of the most unstable second mode 2-D T-S wave. Consequently, secondary instability is unlikely the main cause leading to transition in supersonic boundary layers.     

STUDY OF MECHANISM OF BREAKDOWN IN LAMINARTURBULENT TRANSITION OF SUPERSONIC BOUNDARY LAYER ON FLAT PLATE

Spatial mode direct numerical simulation has been applied to study the mechanism of breakdown in laminar-turbulent transition of a supersonic boundary layer on a flat plate with Mach number 4.5. Analysis of the result showed that, during the breakdown process in laminar-turbulent transition, the mechanism causing the mean flow profile to evolve swiftly from laminar to turbulent was that the modification of mean flow profile by the disturbance, when they became larger, leads to remarkable change of its stability characteristics. Though the most unstable T-S wave was of second mode for laminar flow, the first mode waves played the key role in the breakdown process in laminar-turbulent transition.     

Stability analysis and transition prediction of hypersonic boundary layer over a blunt cone with small nose bluntness at zero angle of attack

Stability and transition prediction of hypersonic boundary layer on a blunt cone with small nose bluntness at zero angle of attack was investigated. The nose radius of the cone is 0.5 mm; the cone half-angle is 5°, and the Mach number of the oncoming flow is 6. The base flow of the blunt cone was obtained by direct numerical simulation. The linear stability theory was applied for the analysis of the first mode and the second mode unstable waves under both isothermal and adiabatic wall condition, and eN method was used for the prediction of transition location. The N factor was tentatively taken as 10, as no experimentally confirmed value was available. It is found that the wall temperature condition has a great effect on the transition location. For adiabatic wall, transition would take place more rearward than those for isothermal wall. And despite that for high Mach number flows, the maximum amplification rate of the second mode wave is far bigger than the maximum amplification rate of the first mode wave, the transition location of the boundary layer with adiabatic wall is controlled by the growth of first mode unstable waves. The methods employed in this paper are expected to be also applicable to the transition prediction for the three dimensional boundary layers on cones with angle of attack.     

Effects of T-S wave amplitude on the control of boundary layer transition bystreaks

The effects of streaks on boundary layer transition depend on the initial amplitude of T-S waves introducedto excite the transition. This problem was studied in a flat-plate boundary layer in water tunnel byusing hydrogen bubble method. Three T-S wave initial amplitudes were tested. The results show thatboth narrow and wide-spacing streaks depress the transition excited by T-S waves with lower initialamplitude. However, when transition is excited by T-S waves of higher initial amplitude, thenarrow-spacing streaks depress the transition, while the wide-spacing streaks promote thetransition. Further the underlying mechanisms were also analyzed.     

Comparison of several open boundary numerical treatments for laminar recirculating flows

Several open boundary conditions (OBCs) are compared and evaluated in the framework of the SIMPLE algorithm using staggered and non-staggered grid systems. The benchmark laminar flow test cases used for the OBC evaluation are Poiseuille-Benard flow in a channel and stratified backward-facing step flow. The investigated OBCs are linear explicit step space extrapolation, Orlanski's monochromatic wave, and pressure extrapolation. Orlanski's and pressure extrapolation open boundary treatment for unsteady and steady flows, respectively, yield little reflection and has proved to be adequate for engineering calculations.     

An improved wave motion input method for application of multi-transmitting boundary

To solve scattering problems with multi-transmitting boundary, we present an improved wave motion input method based on the idea that error caused by the difference between incident wave field used in calculation and waves propagating in finite element grids can be eliminated to suppress drift instability. In this method, a calculation scheme is proposed to obtain the numerical solution of incident wave field, which establishes boundary region models with the multi-transmitting boundary. Numerical experiments demonstrate that this improved wave motion input method not only eliminates drift instability but also effectively improves the calculation accuracy of low-frequency components. Furthermore, the method is easy to implement and, unlike other approaches, does not need artificial parameters. Thus, this method is proposed for use in wave scattering simulation such as seismic response analyses of structures, particularly for long-period structures and those that are sensitive to low frequency.     

一种用于计算板中缺陷兰姆波散射的混合边界元法

本文介绍了一种将传统边界元法和兰姆波的本征模式函数相结合的混合边界元法，用此方法解决兰姆波在板材中传播时遇到缺陷发生的散射问题，计算了兰姆波通过缺陷后的反射与透射系数。文中给出了若干兰姆波信号幅度与板中不同深度缺陷的相互关系。     

Transient mixed convection flow instabilities in a vertical pipe

The present paper investigates a numerical study of flow instabilities in transient mixed convection in a vertical pipe. At the entrance of the pipe, the flow is suddenly submitted to a temperature step. The convection heat transfer on the outer surface of the pipe is taken into account. The governing equations are solved using a finite difference explicit scheme. The numerical results show that the time development of streamlines and isotherms is strongly dependent on the inlet temperature steps. For positive temperature steps, the unsteady vortex is significant in the vicinity of the wall and the reversal flow appears below the wave instability. In the case of negative temperature steps and especially for the low Reynolds number, the reversal flow appears on top of the wave instability. During the transient, the apparition of the vortical structures along the wall leads to the wall boundary layer instability. This phenomenon is due to the transient mixed convection flows. The temperature step effects on the heat transfer of the flow are presented in our paper.     

Selective enhancement of oblique waves caused by finite amplitude second mode in supersonic boundary layer

Nonlinear interactions of the two-dimensional(2D) second mode with oblique modes are studied numerically in a Mach 6.0 flat-plate boundary layer, focusing on its selective enhancement effect on amplification of different oblique waves. Evolution of oblique modes with various frequencies and spanwise wavenumbers in the presence of 2D second mode is simulated successively, using a modified parabolized stability equation(PSE) method, which is able to simulate interaction of two modes with different frequencies efficiently. Numerical results show that oblique modes in a broad band of frequencies and spanwise wavenumbers can be enhanced by the finite amplitude 2D second mode instability wave. The enhancement effect is accomplished by interaction of the 2D second mode, the oblique mode, and a forced mode with difference frequency. Two types of oblique modes are found to be more amplified, i.e., oblique modes with frequency close to that of the 2D second mode and low-frequency first mode oblique waves. Each of them may correspond to one type of transition routes found in transition experiments. The spanwise wavenumber of the oblique wave preferred by the nonlinear interaction is also determined by numerical simulations.     

A test problem for outflow boundary conditions—flow over a backward-facing step

A numerical solution for steady incompressible flow over a two-dimensional backward-facing step is developed using a Galerkin-based finite element method. The Reynolds number for the simulations is 800. Computations are performed on an extended channel length to minimize the effect of the outflow boundary on the upstream recirculation zones. A thorough mesh refinement study is performed to validate the results. Extensive profile data at several channel locations are provided to allow future testing and evaluation of outflow boundary conditions.     

Derivation of a second-order model for Reynolds stress using renormalization group analysis and the two-scale expansion technique

With the two-scale expansion technique proposed by Yoshizawa,the turbulent fluctuating field is expanded around the isotropic field.At a low-order two-scale expansion,applying the mode coupling approximation in the Yakhot-Orszag renormalization group method to analyze the fluctuating field,the Reynolds-average terms in the Reynolds stress transport equation,such as the convective term,the pressure-gradient-velocity correlation term and the dissipation term,are modeled.Two numerical examples:turbulent flow past a backward-facing step and the fully developed flow in a rotating channel,are presented for testing the efficiency of the proposed second-order model.For these two numerical examples,the proposed model performs as well as the Gibson-Launder (GL) model,giving better prediction than the standard k-ε model,especially in the abilities to calculate the secondary flow in the backward-facing step flow and to capture the asymmetric turbulent structure caused by frame rotation.     

Dynamics of steps along a martensitic phase boundary II: Numerical simulations

We investigate the dynamics of steps along a phase boundary in a cubic lattice undergoing antiplane shear deformation. The phase transition is modeled by assuming piecewise linear stress-strain law with respect to one component of the shear strain, while the material response to the other component is linear. In the first part of the paper we have constructed semi-analytical solutions featuring sequential propagation of steps. In this work we conduct a series of numerical simulations to investigate stability of these solutions and study other phenomena associated with step nucleation. We show that sequential propagation of sufficiently small number of steps can be stable, provided that the velocity of the steps is below a certain critical value that depends on the material parameters and the step configuration. Above this value we observe a cascade nucleation of multiple steps which then join sequentially moving groups. Depending on material anisotropy, the critical velocity can be either subsonic or supersonic, resulting in subsonic step nucleation in the first case and steady supersonic sequential motion in the second. The numerical simulations are facilitated with an exact non-reflecting boundary condition and a fast algorithm for its implementation, which are developed to eliminate the possible artificial wave reflection from the computational domain boundary.     

DNS and LES of Passively Controlled Turbulent Backward-Facing Step Flow

A passive control approach (no external energy input) for an unsteady separated flow case was investigated numerically. A surface-mounted control fence was positioned upstream of a backward-facing step, and as an oncoming flow a thin and fully developed turbulent boundary layer with a thickness of δ/h = 0.8 was used. The objective of the passive control was to enhance the entrainment rate of the shear layer bounding the separation zone behind the step, thereby reducing the mean reattachment length,〈 X _r0 〉. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) at Re _h = 3000 (based on the step height, h, and the free stream velocity, U _∞) were carried out for the uncontrolled and the controlled flow case. The LES results were in good agreement with the DNS reference solutions. Adaptively controlled feedback simulations showed that a certain minimum distance between the step edge and the upstream position of the control fence is required to achieve a maximum reduction of the reattachment length.     

Effect of wall-cooling on Mack-mode instability in high speed flat-plate boundary layers

The instability of the Mack mode is destabilized by wall-cooling in a high speed boundary layer. The aim of this paper is to study the mechanism of the wallcooling effect on the Mack mode instability by numerical methods. It is shown that the wall-cooling can destabilize the Mack mode instability, similar to the previous conclusions with the exception that the Mack mode instability can be stabilized by wall-cooling if the wall temperature is extremely low. The reversed wall temperature is related to a freestream condition. If the Mach number increases to a large enough value, e.g., about7, the reversed wall temperature will tend to be zero. It seems that the Mack mode instability is determined by the region between the boundary layer edge and the critical layer. When the wall temperature decreases, this region becomes wider, and the boundary layer becomes more unstable. Additionally, a relative supersonic unstable mode can be observed when the velocity of the critical layer is less than 1- 1/M a or is cancelled by the wall-cooling effect. These results provide a deeper understanding on the wall-cooling effect in high speed boundary layers.