Development of slow disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer

The mechanisms of development of slow time-dependent disturbances in the wall region of a hypersonic boundary layer are established and a diagram of the disturbed flow patterns is plotted; the corresponding nonlinear boundary value problem is formulated for each of these regimes. It is shown that the main factors that form the disturbed flow are the gas enthalpy near the body surface, the local viscous-inviscid interaction level, and the type, either subsonic or supersonic, of the boundary layer as a whole. Numerical and analytical solutions are obtained in the linear approximation. It is established that enhancement of the local viscous-inviscid interaction or an increased role for the main supersonic region of the boundary layer makes the disturbed flow by and large “supersonic”: the upstream propagation of the disturbances becomes weaker, while their downstream growth is amplified. Contrariwise, local viscous-inviscid interaction attenuation or an increased role for the main subsonic region of the boundary layer has the opposite effect. Surface cooling favors an increased effect of the main region of the boundary layer while heating favors an increased wall region effect. It is also found that in the regimes considered disturbances travel from the turbulent flow region downstream of the disturbed region under consideration counter to the oncoming flow, which may be of considerable significance in constructing the nonlinear stability theory.     

On asymptotic theory of separated flows past bodies

Symmetric two-dimensional steady flow past a body in a homogeneous incompressible fluid stream at high Reynolds numbers is considered. A slow motion in the reverse flow zone is investigated and the solution for the flow in the external region is obtained in the second approximation. Additional considerations of the fact that the flow in the closure region of the separation zone and in the wake behind this zone is turbulent are presented. The laminar-turbulent transition in the mixing layer is analyzed and an analogy between this process and the propagation of perturbations upstream of the boundary layer interaction regions is revealed.     

Tollmien-Schlichting Waves in a Hypersonic Boundary Layer Flow in the Neighborhood of a Cooled Surface

A nonlinear time-dependent model of the development of longwave perturbations in a hypersonic boundary layer flow in the neighborhood of a cooled surface is constructed. The pressure in the flow is assumed to be induced the combined variation of the thicknesses of the near-wall and main parts of the boundary layer. Numerical and analytic solutions are obtained in the linear approximation. It is shown that if the main part of the boundary layer is subsonic as a whole, its action reduces the perturbation damping upstream and the perturbation growth downstream, while a supersonic, as a whole, main part of the boundary layer creates the opposite effects. An analysis of the solutions obtained makes it possible to conclude that the asymptotic model proposed can describe the three-dimensional instability of the Tollmien-Schlichting waves.     

Regime diagram of the development of long-wave near-wall disturbances in a hypersonic boundary layer

A regime diagram of the development of slow near-wall disturbances induced by an unsteady self-induced pressure perturbation in a hypersonic boundary layer is constructed for a disturbance wavelength greater than the boundary layer thickness. It is shown that the main factors shaping the perturbed flow are the gas enthalpy near the body surface, the intensity of the viscous-inviscid interaction, and the nature (sub- or supersonic) of the main part of the boundary layer. Nonlinear boundary-value problems are formulated for regimes in which the near-wall boundary layer region plays a decisive role. Numerical and analytical solutions are obtained in the linear approximation. It is shown that intensification of the viscous-inviscid interaction or an increase in the role of the supersonic main region of the boundary layer impart generally supersonic properties to the main part of the boundary layer, i.e. the upstream propagation of the disturbances is damped and the disturbance growth downstream becomes more intense. Damping of the viscous-inviscid interaction and an increase in the role of the subsonic main part of the boundary layer have the opposite effect. Surface cooling increases the effect of the main part of the boundary layer on the formation of pressure disturbances and surface heating leads to an increase in the effect of the near-wall boundary layer region. It is also shown that for the regimes considered disturbances propagate in a direction opposite to that of the free stream from the turbulent flow region located downstream of the local disturbance development region.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, 2004, pp. 59–71. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Bogolepov and Neiland.     

Single-mode plate flutter taking the boundary layer into account

The stability of an elastic plate in supersonic gas flow is investigated using asymptotic methods and taking the boundary layer formed on the plate surface into account. It is shown that the effect of the boundary layer can be of two types depending on its profile. In the case of generalized convex profiles (characteristic of accelerated flow) supersonic and subsonic plate oscillations are stabilized and destabilized, respectively. In the case of profiles with a generalized inflection point located in the subsonic part of the layer (characteristic of homogeneous and decelerated flows) supersonic perturbations are destabilized in the thin boundary layer and stabilized when the layer is fairly thick; subsonic perturbations are damped.     

Investigation of a Gas Flow with Solid Particles in a Supersonic Nozzle

A two-phase flow with high Reynolds numbers in the subsonic, transonic, and supersonic parts of the nozzle is considered within the framework of the Prandtl model, i.e., the flow is divided into an inviscid core and a thin boundary layer. Mutual influence of the gas and solid particles is taken into account. The Euler equations are solved for the gas in the flow core, and the boundary-layer equations are used in the near-wall region. The particle motion in the inviscid region is described by the Lagrangian approach, and trajectories and temperatures of particle packets are tracked. The behavior of particles in the boundary layer is described by the Euler equations for volume-averaged parameters of particles. The computed particle-velocity distributions are compared with experiments in a plane nozzle. It is noted that particles inserted in the subsonic part of the nozzle are focused at the nozzle centerline, which leads to substantial flow deceleration in the supersonic part of the nozzle. The effect of various boundary conditions for the flow of particles in the inviscid region is considered. For an axisymmetric nozzle, the influence of the contour of the subsonic part of the nozzle, the loading ratio, and the particle diameter on the particle-flow parameters in the inviscid region and in the boundary layer is studied. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 6, pp. 65–77, November–December, 2005.     

Critical transition Reynolds number for plane channel flow

The determination of the critical transition Reynolds number is of practical importance for some engineering problems. However, it is not available with the current theoretical method, and has to rely on experiments. For supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flows, the experimental method for determination is not feasible either. Therefore,in this paper, a numerical method for the determination of the critical transition Reynolds number for an incompressible plane channel flow is proposed. It is basically aimed to test the feasibility of the method. The proposed method is extended to determine the critical Reynolds number of the supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flow in the subsequent papers.     

On Disturbance Propagation in Internal-Flow Boundary Layers

The unsteady interaction of plane-channel wall boundary layers with a supersonic inviscid flow is investigated. The flow regimes in which disturbances introduced by the boundary layer developing on one wall influence the boundary layer on the other wall are considered. The regime of relatively large pressure disturbance amplitudes generated near the nozzle outlet or by deforming the channel walls is studied. In these conditions, the interaction process is described by a system of Burgers equations with retarded arguments. Numerical solutions of this system are obtained for symmetric and antisymmetric perturbations of the channel walls.     

The Effect of the Mach Number on a Turbulent Backward-Facing Step Flow

The flow around a backward-facing step in the sub-, trans- and supersonic regimes was investigated at the Trisonic Wind Tunnel Munich with particle image velocimetry and dynamic pressure measurements. These two techniques were combined to simultaneously measure and correlate the velocity fluctuations in a streamwise vertical plane with the pressure fluctuations on the reattachment surface. The results show that the dynamic loads on the reattachment surface increase from subsonic up to the transonic regime while the mean reattachment location moves downstream. As soon as the flow becomes locally supersonic aft of the backward-facing step, the mean reattachment location suddenly moves upstream while the normalized dynamic loads drastically decrease. By correlating the velocity and the dynamic pressure data, it was shown that a clear separation between outer flow and the flow close to the surface aft of the step is responsible for the drastic load reduction. Due to the large difference in pressure/density, the disturbances from the locally supersonic flow do not have an effect on the flow close to the surface. This is also reflected in the power spectral densities of the pressure fluctuations on the surface, showing that at supersonic free-stream Mach numbers a low-frequency pumping motion of the locally subsonic flow is the dominant mode, while in sub-/transonic flow Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and a cross-pumping motion of the shear layer dominate the dynamic loads.     

A reformulated synthetic turbulence generation method for a zonal RANS–LES method and its application to zero-pressure gradient boundary layers

A synthetic turbulence generation (STG) method for subsonic and supersonic flows at low and moderate Reynolds numbers to provide inflow distributions of zonal Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) – large-eddy simulation (LES) methods is presented. The STG method splits the LES inflow region into three planes where a local velocity signal is decomposed from the turbulent flow properties of the upstream RANS solution. Based on the wall-normal position and the local flow Reynolds number, specific length and velocity scales with different vorticity content are imposed at the inlet plane of the boundary layer. The quality of the STG method for incompressible and compressible zero-pressure gradient boundary layers is shown by comparing the zonal RANS–LES data with pure LES, pure RANS, and direct numerical simulation (DNS) solutions. The distributions of the time and spanwise wall-shear stress, Reynolds stress distributions, and two point correlations of the zonal RANS–LES simulations are smooth in the transition region and in good agreement with the pure LES and reference DNS findings. The STG approach reduces the RANS-to-LES transition length to less than four boundary-layer thicknesses.     

Self-induced interaction between boundary layers in a plane channel

Interaction between boundary layers formed on the walls of a plane symmetric channel is studied when a supersonic perfect-gas stream, homogeneous in the initial cross-section and having a constant specific ratio, flows along the channel at large characteristic Reynolds numbers. In the case under consideration the longitudinal dimension of the interaction zone L coincides in order of magnitude with the channel widthd, i.e., the boundary layers interact as a result of the transfer of a perturbation from one layer to the other through the irrotational flow core.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 131–141, July–August, 1995.     

Propagation of acoustic perturbations along a supersonic jet flowing out into the atmosphere

The propagation of acoustic perturbations (specified in the outlet cross section of a particular channel) along a supersonic jet flowing out of the channel is considered; also considered is acoustic emission from the surface of the jet into the atmosphere. The solution of these problems is obtained by a numerical method on the linear approximation. The laws governing the propagation of the perturbations as a function of the perturbation frequency and other determining parameters are investigated; these parameters include the velocity and temperature of the jet, the velocity of the subsonic accompanying flow in the external medium, and the character of the perturbation in the initial cross section of the jet.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 92–99, March–April, 1977.     

Interaction of a Traveling Pressure Perturbation with a Boundary Layer

The interaction between a traveling pressure perturbation and a laminar compressible boundary layer is investigated for a perturbation level higher than that needed to initiate steady-state flow separation. It is found that if the velocity of the pressure perturbation is fairly high the flow may remain unseparated and its direction of motion determines the nature of the perturbation propagation in the boundary layer. It is shown that even in the linear approximation the perturbations are mainly induced by the linear wall layer and not by the critical layer, which always remains nonlinear. It is also found that in the unsteady case shortwave perturbation oscillations are damped with time while the longwave ones grow and that the growth of the perturbations with time amplifies their damping along the streamwise coordinate while damping reduces it.     

Effect of the form of the electrodes on the current distribution in a magnetogasdynamic channel

A solution is given to the plane problem of the flow of a conducting gas across a homogeneous magnetic field in a magnetogasdynamic channel taking account of the Hall effect at small magnetic Reynolds numbers. The channel is formed by two long electrodes, and the cross section of the channel varies slightly and periodically along the gas flow. It is assumed that the electromagnetic forces are small. It is shown that the current distribution in the channel is nonuniform to a consider able degree and that inverse currents can form at the electrodes, with both subsonic and supersonic flows of the conducting gas. Transverse motion of the gas, due to a change in the cross section of the channel, leads to an increase of Joule energy losses. In [1] the current distribution was obtained in a flat channel formed by infinite dielectric walls, with the flow of a steady-state stream of plasma through the channel across a homogeneous magnetic field. With interaction between the flow and the magnetic field, closed current loops develop in the channel.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 26–33, November–December, 1970.     

Effect of gas compressibility on the stability of a boundary layer above a permeable surface at subsonic velocities

In the present study we investigate the stability of a boundary layer for the condition that the velocity perturbations at the permeable surface are nonzero. The stability for the boundary layer of an incompressible liquid in such a formulation was considered in [1]. For the case of subsonic velocities the effect of compressibility on the flow inside the boundary layer is weak, and in the present article this effect was neglected. The unsteady flow in narrow pores of a permeable covering depends strongly on the compressibility of the gas. Therefore, in the derivation of the relation connecting the pressure oscillations at the permeable surface with the oscillations of the flow through it, the effect of the compressibility was taken into consideration. It is shown that the boundary conditions, and therefore also the stability of the boundary layer at the permeable surface, depend considerably on the Mach number, even for a subsonic exterior flow.     

Existence and Stability of Multidimensional Transonic Flows through an Infinite Nozzle of Arbitrary Cross-Sections

We establish the existence and stability of multidimensional steady transonic flows with transonic shocks through an infinite nozzle of arbitrary cross-sections, including a slowly varying de Laval nozzle. The transonic flow is governed by the inviscid potential flow equation with supersonic upstream flow at the entrance, uniform subsonic downstream flow at the exit at infinity, and the slip boundary condition on the nozzle boundary. Our results indicate that, if the supersonic upstream flow at the entrance is sufficiently close to a uniform flow, there exists a solution that consists of a C ^1,α subsonic flow in the unbounded downstream region, converging to a uniform velocity state at infinity, and a C ^1,α multidimensional transonic shock separating the subsonic flow from the supersonic upstream flow; the uniform velocity state at the exit at infinity in the downstream direction is uniquely determined by the supersonic upstream flow; and the shock is orthogonal to the nozzle boundary at every point of their intersection. In order to construct such a transonic flow, we reformulate the multidimensional transonic nozzle problem into a free boundary problem for the subsonic phase, in which the equation is elliptic and the free boundary is a transonic shock. The free boundary conditions are determined by the Rankine–Hugoniot conditions along the shock. We further develop a nonlinear iteration approach and employ its advantages to deal with such a free boundary problem in the unbounded domain. We also prove that the transonic flow with a transonic shock is unique and stable with respect to the nozzle boundary and the smooth supersonic upstream flow at the entrance.     

Subcritical spatial transition of swept Hiemenz flow

It is known from experimental investigations that the leading-edge boundary layer of a swept wing exhibits transition to turbulence at subcritical Reynolds numbers, i.e. at Reynolds numbers which lie below the critical Reynolds number predicted by linear stability theory. In the present work, we investigate this subcritical transition process by direct numerical simulations of a swept Hiemenz flow in a spatial setting. The laminar base flow is perturbed upstream by a pair of stationary counter-rotating vortex-like disturbances. This perturbation generates high- and low-speed streaks by a non-modal growth mechanism. Further downstream, these streaky structures exhibit a strong instability to secondary perturbations which leads to a breakdown to turbulence.The observed transition mechanism has strong similarities to by-pass transition mechanisms found for two-dimensional boundary layers. It can be shown that transition strongly depends on the amplitude of the primary perturbation as well as on the frequency of the secondary perturbation.     

Asymptotic solutions for the asymmetric flow in a channel with porous retractable walls under a transverse magnetic field

The self-similarity solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are constructed for an incompressible laminar flow through a uniformly porous channel with retractable walls under a transverse magnetic field. The flow is driven by the expanding or contracting walls with different permeability. The velocities of the asymmetric flow at the upper and lower walls are different in not only the magnitude but also the direction. The asymptotic solutions are well constructed with the method of boundary layer correction in two cases with large Reynolds numbers, i.e., both walls of the channel are with suction, and one of the walls is with injection while the other one is with suction. For small Reynolds number cases, the double perturbation method is used to construct the asymptotic solution. All the asymptotic results are finally verified by numerical results.     

On the Interaction of Turbulent Shear Layers with Harmonic Perturbations

The problem of coherent perturbations in a turbulent shear layer is considered for the purpose of developing a mathematical model based on a triple decomposition that extracts the coherent components of random fluctuations. The governing equations for the mean and the coherent parts of flow are derived, assuming the eddy-viscosity equivalence for the random part of flow, and solved by iterations to provide a coupled solution of the problem as a whole. Calculations agree well with experimental data in the upstream part of the layer where the mean–coherent flow interaction is the most important. In this region, the interaction changes the mean flow velocity distribution in such a manner that the neutral stability curve is shifted upstream relative to its position in the undisturbed layer and the perturbation intensity decreases further downstream. Experiments show that the coherent waves suppress the turbulent Reynolds stress production downstream of this region, but the model fails to predict the layer spreading correctly probably due to an inadequate turbulence closure of the mean flow. For the case of a turbulent mixing layer, we suggest a new closure relation that takes into account this coherent-random interaction.