Visualizing supersonic inlet duct unstart using planar laser Rayleigh scattering

Planar laser Rayleigh scattering (PLRS) from condensed CO₂ particles is used to visualize flow structure in a Mach 5 wind tunnel undergoing unstart. Detailed flow features such as laminar/turbulent boundary layers and shockwaves are readily illustrated by the technique. A downstream transverse air jet, inducing flow unchoking downstream of the jet, is injected into the free stream flow of the tunnel, resulting in tunnel unstart. Time sequential PLRS images reveal that the boundary layer growth/separation on a surface with a thick turbulent boundary layer, initiated by the jet injection, propagates upstream and produces an oblique unstart shock. The tunnel unstarts upon the arrival of the shock at the inlet. In contrast, earlier flow separation on the opposite surface, initially supporting a thin laminar boundary layer, is observed when a jet induced bow shock strikes that surface. The resulting disturbance to this boundary layer also propagates upstream and precedes the formation of an unstart shock.     

Statistical laws of the pressure fluctuations in a hypersonic turbulent boundary layer

The results of measuring the pressure fluctuations on the wall of the nozzle of a hypersonic wind tunnel beneath a developed turbulent boundary layer are presented for the Mach number M_∞ = 7.5. On the basis of a statistical analysis, it is shown that the action of the turbulent flow is dynamically similar to the propagation of a random sequence of wave packets with continuously distributed temporal and spatial scales. Low-frequency disturbances are associated with large-scale structures of long duration that propagate at a mean-statistical velocity similar in value to the outer flow velocity. The continuous generation of weakly-correlated small-scale disturbances ensuring the maintenance and development of turbulence occurs chiefly in the inner region of the boundary layer. Spectral estimates of the power generated by the turbulent flow in the wall region of the boundary layer are presented.     

Planar velocity measurements of a two-dimensional compressible wake

The present study describes the application of particle image velocimetry (PIV) to investigate the compressible flow in the wake of a two-dimensional blunt base at a freestream Mach number M_X=2. The first part of the study addresses specific issues related to the application of PIV to supersonic wind tunnel flows, such as the seeding particle flow-tracing fidelity and the measurement spatial resolution. The seeding particle response is assessed through a planar oblique shock wave experiment. The measurement spatial resolution is enhanced by means of an advanced image-interrogation algorithm. In the second part, the experimental results are presented. The PIV measurements yield the spatial distribution of mean velocity and turbulence. The mean velocity distribution clearly reveals the main flow features such as expansion fans, separated shear layers, flow recirculation, reattachment, recompression and wake development. The turbulence distribution shows the growth of turbulent fluctuations in the separated shear layers up to the reattachment location. Increased velocity fluctuations are also present downstream of reattachment outside of the wake due to unsteady flow reattachment and recompression. The instantaneous velocity field is analyzed seeking coherent flow structures in the redeveloping wake. The instantaneous planar velocity and vorticity measurements return evidence of large-scale turbulent structures detected as spatially coherent vorticity fluctuations. The velocity pattern consistently shows large masses of fluid in vortical motion. The overall instantaneous wake flow is organized as a double row of counter-rotating structures. The single structures show vorticity contours of roughly elliptical shape in agreement with previous studies based on spatial correlation of planar light scattering. Peak vorticity is found to be five times higher than the mean vorticity value, suggesting that wake turbulence is dominated by the activity of large-scale structures. The unsteady behavior of the reattachment phenomenon is studied. Based on the instantaneous flow topology, the reattachment is observed to fluctuate mostly in the streamwise direction suggesting that the unsteady separation is dominated by a pumping-like motion.     

Hypersonic boundary-layer transition on a flared cone

Transition on a flared cone with zero angle of attack was studied in our newly established Mach 6 quiet wind tunnel (M6QT) via wall pressure measurement and flow visualization. High-frequency pressure transducers were used to measure the second-mode waves’ amplitudes and frequencies. Using pulsed schlieren diagnostic and Rayleigh scattering technique, we got a clear evolution of the second-mode disturbances. The second-mode waves exist for a long distance, which means that the second-mode waves grow linearly in a large region. Strong Mach waves are radiated from the edge of the boundary layer. With further development, the second-mode waves reach their maximum magnitude and harmonics of the second-mode instability appear. Then the disturbances grow nonlinearly. The second modes become weak and merge with each other. Finally, the nonlinear interaction of disturbance leads to a relatively quiet zone, which further breaks down, resulting in the transition of the boundary layer. Our results show that transition is determined by the second mode. The quiet zone before the final breakdown is observed in flow visualization for the first time. Eventual transition requires the presence of a quiet zone generated by nonlinear interactions.     

Transition control of Mach 6.5 hypersonic flat plate boundary layer

An artificial disturbance is introduced into the boundary layer over a flat plate to investigate the effect on the transition process in the Mach 6.5 wind tunnel at Peking University. A linear stability theory(LST) is utilized to predict the evolution of the eigenmodes, and the frequency of the artificial disturbance is chosen according to the LST results. The artificial disturbance is generated by glowing discharge on the surface of the plate close to the leading edge. The Rayleigh-scattering visualization and particle image velocimetry(PIV) measurements are performed. By comparing the experimental results with artificial disturbances with those under the natural condition(without artificial disturbances), the present paper shows that the second-mode instability waves are significantly stimulated by the artificial disturbances, and the boundary layer transition is effectively triggered.     

Meander of a fin trailing vortex and the origin of its turbulence

The low-frequency meander of a trailing vortex shed from a tapered fin installed on a wind tunnel wall has been studied using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry in the near-wake at Mach 0.8. Distributions of the instantaneous vortex position reveal that the meander amplitude increases with downstream distance and decreases with vortex strength, indicating meander is induced external to the vortex. Trends with downstream distance suggest meander begins on the fin surface, prior to vortex shedding. Mean vortex properties are unaltered when considered in the meandering reference frame, apparently because turbulent fluctuations in the vortex shape and strength dominate positional variations. Conversely, a large peak of artificial turbulent kinetic energy is found centered in the vortex core, which almost entirely disappears when corrected for meander, though some turbulence remains near the core radius. Turbulence originating at the wind tunnel wall was shown to contribute to vortex meander by energizing the incoming boundary layer using low-profile vortex generators and observing a substantial increase in the meander amplitude, while greater turbulent kinetic energy penetrates the vortex core. An explanatory mechanism has been hypothesized, in which the vortex initially forms at the apex of the swept leading edge of the fin where it is exposed to turbulent fluctuations within the wind tunnel wall boundary layer, introducing an instability into the incipient vortex core.     

Application of fast-responding pressure-sensitive paint to a hemispherical dome in unsteady transonic flow

The current work focuses on the development and application of fast-responding polymer/ceramic pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) as an advanced surface pressure measurement technique for unsteady flow fields in large-scale wind tunnels. To demonstrate the unsteady PSP technique, the unsteady surface pressure distribution over a hemispherical dome placed in the United States Air Force Research Laboratory’s Trisonic Gasdynamics Facility (TGF) was studied by phase-locking to the characteristic frequency in the flow caused by an unsteady separated shear layer shed from the dome. The wind tunnel was operated at stagnation pressures of 23.92 and 71.84 kPa, with the test section flow at Mach 0.6. Under the two operating conditions, the predominant shear layer frequency was measured to be 272 and 400 Hz, respectively. The quasi-periodic shear layer frequency enabled a phase-averaged method to be employed for capturing the unsteady shock motion on the hemisphere. Unsteady pressure data resulting from this technique are shown to correlate well with measurements acquired by conventional measurement techniques. Measurement uncertainty in the phase-averaging technique will be discussed. To address measurement uncertainties from temperature sensitivity and model movement, a new implementation of an AC-coupled data representation is offered.     

Quantitative schlieren measurements of coherent structures in a cavity shear layer

Quantitative flow-field data were obtained in a planar shear layer spanning an open cavity with an extension of the schlieren method. The technique is based on the measurement of light-intensity fluctuations in a real-time schlieren image. Data were collected using a fiber-optic sensor embedded in the imaging screen coupled to a photodetector. Time-resolved measurements of the instantaneous density gradient at a point in the two dimensional flow cross section were thus obtained. Detailed surveys were carried out with both the optical instrument as well as a hot wire at a Mach number of 0.25 and with the optical instrument alone at a Mach number of 0.6. A comparison of the results shows that the non-intrusive technique can accurately measure the growth rates of instability waves in the initial “linear” region of the shear layer. The density-gradient fluctuations measured at different locations (and times) were synchronized by using a microphone inside the cavity as a reference and integrated to yield profiles of the density fluctuations associated with the dominant large-scale structures in the shear layer. Such quantitative visualization is expected to clarify the mechanism of sound generation by shear-layer impingement at the cavity trailing edge and elucidate the nature of this sound source. Received: 28 December 1999/Accepted: 15 March 2000     

Measurements of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer by focusing schlieren deflectometry

 Some novel, non-intrusive, high-frequency, localized optical measurements of turbulence in compressible flows are described. The technique is based upon focusing schlieren optics coupled with high-speed quantitative measurement of light intensity fluctuations in the schlieren image. Measurements of density gradient fluctuations confined to a thin slice of the flowfield are thus obtained. The new instrument was used to investigate the structure of a two-dimensional, adiabatic, wind tunnel wall boundary layer at a Mach number of 3. The measurements were compared to data obtained using hot-wire anemometry and good agreement was found between the two. Distributions of broadband convection velocity of large-scale structures through the boundary later were also measured. In marked contrast to earlier results, it is shown here that the convection velocity is essentially identical to the local mean velocity. Further, results obtained using the VITA conditional sampling technique shed new light on the turbulent boundary layer structure. Overall, the data presented herein serve to validate the new measurement technique. Received: 12 February 1997/Accepted: 31 January 1998     

Effects of Mach number on turbulent separation behaviours induced by blunt fin

 An experimental study of the interaction between shock wave and turbulent boundary layer induced by blunt fin has been carried out at M _∞=7.8 using oil flow visualization and simultaneous measurements of fluctuating wall pressure and heat transfer. This paper presents the effects of Mach number on turbulent separation behaviours induced by blunt fin. Received: 21 July 1996/Accepted: 4 February 1998     

Effect of glow discharge on hypersonic flat plate boundary layer

Glow discharge is introduced as an artificial disturbance to investigate the evolution of first-and second-mode instabilities in a hypersonic flat plate boundary layer.Experiments are conducted in a Mach 6.5 quiet wind tunnel using Rayleigh scattering visualization and particle image velocimetry(PIV). Detailed analysis of the experimental observations is provided. It is found that the artificially introduced 17 kHz disturbance,which belongs to the first-mode frequency band, can effectively enhance first-mode waves.Moreover, it can enhance second-mode waves even more intensely. Possible mechanisms to explain this phenomenon are discussed.     

Stereo particle image velocimetry of nonequilibrium turbulence relaxation in a supersonic boundary layer

Measurements using stereo particle image velocimetry are presented for a developing turbulent boundary layer in a wind tunnel with a Mach 2.75 free stream. As the boundary layer exits from the tunnel nozzle and moves through the wave-free test section, small initial departures from equilibrium turbulence relax, and the boundary layer develops toward the equilibrium zero-pressure-gradient form. This relaxation process is quantified by comparison of first and second order mean, fluctuation, and gradient statistics to classical inner and outer layer scalings. Simultaneous measurement of all three instantaneous velocity components enables direct assessment of the complete turbulence anisotropy tensor. Profiles of the turbulence Mach number show that, despite the M = 2.75 free stream, the incompressibility relation among spatial gradients in the velocity fluctuations applies. This result is used in constructing various estimates of the measured-dissipation rate, comparisons among which show only remarkably small differences over most of the boundary layer. The resulting measured-dissipation profiles, together with measured profiles of the turbulence kinetic energy and mean-flow gradients, enable an assessment of how the turbulence anisotropy relaxes toward its equilibrium zero-pressure-gradient state. The results suggest that the relaxation of the initially disturbed turbulence anisotropy profile toward its equilibrium zero-pressure-gradient form begins near the upper edge of the boundary layer and propagates downward through the defect layer.     

壁湍流温度扩展的自相似性及其层次结构模型

用热线风速仪测量了风洞中壁面加热平板湍流边界层不同法向位置的温度信号,研究了温度结构函数扩展的自相似性及其层次结构模型与湍流平均流场的非均匀性的关系。     

Investigation of the heat transfer mechanism in supersonic turbulent boundary layers

A method is described for calculating turbulent Prandtl numbers from Mach number and total temperature profiles in supersonic boundary layers. The calculations are based on boundary layer measurements in the Mach number range from 3.5 to 5. The investigations clearly indicate that in addition to accurate profile measurements reliable values of shear stress and heat flux at the wall must exist, in order to be able to calculate the turbulent Prandtl number in the viscous regime of the boundary layer. For flow conditions with and without heat transfer, the derived turbulent Prandtl numbers indicate that the turbulent transport of heat decreases much faster towards the wall than the turbulent transport of momentum. The results of the analysis show that only the unequivocal qualitative result of increasing turbulent Prandtl numbers in the viscous region of the boundary layer, can be expected. The variation of the turbulent Prandtl number can be described successfully using a simple approximation, based on the mixing length concept, and is applied to the calculation of total temperature distribution using the law of the wall for compressible flow.     

An experimental study on turbulent coherent structures near a sheared air-water interface

The turbulence structures near a sheared air-water interface were experimentally investigated with the hydrogen bubble visualization technique. Surface shear was imposed by an airflow over the water flow which was kept free from surface waves. Results show that the wind shear has the main influence on coherent structures under air-water interfaces. Low- and high- speed streaks form in the region close to the interface as a result of the imposed shear stress. When a certain airflow velocity is reached, “turbulent spots” appear randomly at low-speed streaks with some characteristics of hairpin vortices. At even higher shear rates, the flow near the interface is dominated primarily by intermittent bursting events. The coherent structures observed near sheared air-water interfaces show qualitative similarities with those occurring in near-wall turbulence. However, a few distinctive phenomena were also observed, including the fluctuating thickness of the instantaneous boundary layer and vertical vortices in bursting processes, which appear to be associated with the characteristics of air-water interfaces. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.19672070)     

An experimental investigation of the ELAC 1 configuration at supersonic speeds

Supersonic flight of aerospace planes is of marked interest since several flow regimes characterized by different local flow structures have to be flown through. This problem was investigated experimentally for the hypersonic research configuration ELAC 1. The aim of the study was to detect the influence of the rounded leading edge, of the thickness distribution prescribed, and of the Reynolds number, especially on the flow on the leeward side of the configuration. The experiments were carried out in the transonic wind tunnel of Aerodynamisches Institut of RWTH Aachen, at a freestream Mach number Ma _∞=2, a unit Reynolds number of Re _∞=13×10⁶, angles of attack between ?3°?α?10°, and in a wind tunnel of the Institute for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk. The freestream Mach numbers covered in these experiments were varied between 2?Ma _∞?4, freestream Reynolds numbers per unit length between 25×10⁶?Re _∞?56×10⁶ and angles of attack between ?3°?α?10°. Flow visualization studies, measurements of surface pressure distributions and of aerodynamic forces were used to analyze the flow. The results, which will also be compared with numerical data, clearly indicate marked differences in the location of the separation and reattachment lines, and the formation of the primary, secondary and tertiary vortices, for the flow regimes investigated.     

Effect of a moving wall on a fully developed, equilibrium turbulent boundary layer

Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel to assess the effect of a moving wall on a fully developed, equilibrium turbulent boundary layer. Pitot-static and total head probes were used in conjunction with both single- and two-component hot-wire anemometer probes to quantify the effect of wall motion on the boundary layer velocity statistics. A variable speed, seamless belt formed the wind tunnel test section wall. When stationary, the belt was found to possess a fully developed, equilibrium turbulent boundary layer in excellent agreement with archival data. With the tunnel wall moving at the free-stream speed, and at a sufficient distance above the wall, the velocity statistics in the moving-wall boundary layer were found to collapse well when scaled as a self-preserving turbulent wake. The near-wall mean velocity profile of the moving wall was found to exhibit an extended region of linearity compared to canonical turbulent boundary layer and internal flows. This can be attributed to the reduced shear resulting from wall motion and the subsequent reduction in Reynolds stress. Received: 2 June 1999/Accepted: 8 August 2000     

The flow over a thin airfoil subjected to elevated levels of freestream turbulence at low Reynolds numbers

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) can be difficult to control in the outdoor environment as they fly at relatively low speeds and are of low mass, yet exposed to high levels of freestream turbulence present within the Atmospheric Boundary Layer. In order to examine transient flow phenomena, two turbulence conditions of nominally the same longitudinal integral length scale (Lxx/c?=?1) but with significantly different intensities (Ti?=?7.2?% and 12.3?%) were generated within a wind tunnel; time-varying surface pressure measurements, smoke flow visualization, and wake velocity measurements were made on a thin flat plate airfoil. Rapid changes in oncoming flow pitch angle resulted in the shear layer to separate from the leading edge of the airfoil even at lower geometric angles of attack. At higher geometric angles of attack, massive flow separation occurred at the leading edge followed by enhanced roll up of the shear layer. This lead to the formation of large Leading Edge Vortices (LEVs) that advected at a rate much lower than the mean flow speed while imparting high pressure fluctuations over the airfoil. The rate of LEV formation was dependent on the angle of attack until 10° and it was independent of the turbulence properties tested. The fluctuations in surface pressures and consequently aerodynamic loads were considerably limited on the airfoil bottom surface due to the favorable pressure gradient.     

Reynolds number effects on a turbulent boundary layer with separation,reattachment, and recovery

The present paper addresses experimental studies of Reynolds number effects on a turbulent boundary layer with separation, reattachment, and recovery. A momentum thickness Reynolds number varies from 1,100 to 20,100 with a wind tunnel enclosed in a pressure vessel by varying the air density and wind tunnel speed. A custom-built, high-resolution laser Doppler anemometer provides fully resolved turbulence measurements over the full Reynolds number range. The experiments show that the mean flow is at most a very weak function of Reynolds number while turbulence quantities strongly depend on Reynolds number. Roller vortices are generated in the separated shear layer caused by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Empirical Reynolds number scalings for the mean velocity and Reynolds stresses are proposed for the upstream boundary layer, the separated region, and the recovery region. The inflectional instability plays a critical role in the scaling in the separated region. The near-wall flow recovers quickly downstream of reattachment even if the outer layer is far from an equilibrium state. As a result, a stress equilibrium layer where a flat-plate boundary layer scaling is valid develops in the recovery region and grows outward moving downstream.     

Exploratory study of turbulent structure of a compressible shear layer using fluctuating pitot pressure measurements

An experimental study has been conducted to determine if two-point fluctuating pitot pressure measurements can be used to detect and quantify the large-scale structures in a two-dimensional, high Reynolds number, supersonic, turbulent shear layer. There is evidence from the two-point correlations of fluctuating pitot pressures and from the VITA analysis that large-scale structures exist and span the thickness of the shear layer. Because the shear layer exhibits a wake-like character, the large-scale structure in the lower part of the shear layer is essentially normal to the flow direction. Power spectra measured at about 25 initial shear layer thicknesses downstream of the origin are broadband, which suggests that the large-scale structures are not yet highly organized.A version of this paper was presented at the 12^th Symposium on Turbulence at the University of Missouri-Rolla