Experimental study of the laminar-turbulent transition on a blunt cone

Results of an experimental study of the laminar-turbulent transition in a hypersonic flow around cones with different bluntness radii at a zero angle of attack, free-stream Mach number M _∞ = 6, and unit Reynolds number in the interval Re _∞,1 = 5.79 · 10⁶–5.66 · 10⁷ m^?1 are presented. Flow regimes in which a reverse of the laminar-turbulent transition (decrease in the length of the laminar segment with increasing bluntness radius) are studied. Heat flux distributions over the model surface are obtained with the use of temperature-sensitive paints. Lines of the beginning of the transition in the boundary layer are analyzed by using heat flux fields. The critical Reynolds number Re _∞,R ≈ 1.3 · 10⁵ beginning from which the laminar-turbulent transition substantially depends on uncontrolled disturbances, such as the model tip roughness, is found. In supercritical regimes, the line of the transition beginning is shifted in most cases toward the model tip (reverse of the transition). The results obtained are compared with available experimental data.     

Natural convection heat transfer along vertical rectangular ducts

Experimental investigations have been reported on steady state natural convection from the outer surface of vertical rectangular and square ducts in air. Seven ducts have been used; three of them have a rectangular cross section and the rest have square cross section. The ducts are heated using internal constant heat flux heating elements. The temperatures along the vertical surface and the peripheral directions of the duct wall are measured. Axial (perimeter averaged) heat transfer coefficients along the side of each duct are obtained for laminar and transition to turbulent regimes of natural convection heat transfer. Axial (perimeter averaged) Nusselt numbers are evaluated and correlated using the modified Rayleigh numbers for laminar and transition regime using the vertical axial distance as a characteristic length. Critical values of the modified Rayleigh numbers are obtained for transition to turbulent. Furthermore, total overall averaged Nusselt numbers are correlated with the modified Rayleigh numbers and the area ratio for the laminar regimes. The local axial (perimeter averaged) heat transfer coefficients are observed to decrease in the laminar region and increase in the transition region. Laminar regimes are obtained at the lower half of the ducts and its chance to appear decreases as the heat flux increases.     

Effect of the freestream turbulence scale and the leading edge shape on boundary layer laminar-turbulent transition

The effect of the leading edge shape and the turbulence scale on laminar-turbulent transition in the flat-plate boundary layer due to grid turbulence is investigated. In the experiments, the turbulence scale was changed by a factor of three and the bluntness radius of the edge by a factor of four, all other factors being fixed. It is shown that on the plate with a sharp edge the fluctuation growth rate and the laminar-turbulent transition point depend nonmonotonically on the turbulence scale. On the blunt plate transition occurs considerably earlier than on the sharp plate.     

Joint permeability and roughness effect on the supersonic flat-plate boundary layer stability and transition

The joint effect of the permeability and the roughness of the flat plate surface on the boundary layer stability and laminar-turbulent transition is experimentally and theoretically investigated at the freestream Mach number M_∞ = 2. It is shown that, as a certain roughness value is reached, and with increase in the porous coating thickness (on a certain range), the boundary layer stability against natural disturbances diminishes and laminar-turbulent transition is displaced toward the leading edge of the model.     

Laminar-turbulent flow over wedges mounted on sharp and blunt plates

The flow pattern and the heat transfer on sharp and blunt flat plates near a wedge in a Mach 6 stream are experimentally investigated for two Reynolds numbers corresponding to the laminar and transitional states of the undisturbed boundary layer ahead of the wedge. It is shown that, as in a two-dimensional flow, plate bluntness leads to the attenuation of the heat transfer in the boundary layer/shock wave interference zone. However, when a certain threshold value of the bluntness is exceeded, a further increase in the bluntness has almost no effect on the heat transfer. For the first time, an experiment conducted in an intermittent (blow-down) wind tunnel has been based on the comprehensive use of panoramic (global) techniques for measuring the heat transfer and pressure coefficients and a method for visualizing the surface friction employing the luminescence effect after UV irradiation.     

k-ω-γ模式对转捩影响因素的预测性能研究

高超声速边界层转捩的准确预测对飞行器的防热、减阻至关重要,而影响高超声速边界层转捩的因素众多.从模式角度出发研究边界层转捩的影响因素,采用k-ω-γ 转捩模式对5°圆锥的边界层转捩进行了数值分析,计算了不同头部钝度、来流雷诺数和湍流度情况下的边界层转捩,并与实验结果进行了对比. 研究结果表明:k-ω-γ 转捩模式基本能够反映头部钝度、来流雷诺数、来流湍流度对高超声速圆锥边界层转捩的影响规律,但对转捩后的热流峰值预测不准;从模式构造角度分析发现,雷诺数越高或头部钝度越小,层流区边界层越薄,k-ω-γ 转捩模式中第一、第二模态时间尺度增大,因此转捩起始位置提前;来流湍流度越大,等效脉动动能初值越大,导致层流区发展过程中等效脉动动能越大,因此转捩易于发生.      

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.     

Interaction between an Inclined Shock and Boundary and High-Entropy Layers on a Flat Plate

The flow structure and heat exchange in the zone of interference between an inclined shock and the surface of a flat plate are investigated experimentally and theoretically as functions of many parameters, the interference being studied in both the presence and the absence of bluntness of the leading edge. The experiments were carried out at Mach numbers M = 6, 8, and 10 and the Reynolds numbers Re _L , calculated using the plate length L = 120 mm and the free-stream parameters, varied over the range from 0.24 ? 10⁶ to 1.31 ? 10⁶. The bluntness radius of the leading edge of the plate, the intensity of the impinging shock, and its location with respect to the leading edge were varied. The numerical simulation was carried out by solving the complete two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and averaged Reynolds equations using the q-ω turbulence model. The laminar boundary layer became turbulent inside the separation zone induced by the shock. It is shown that the plate bluntness significantly reduces the heat exchange intensity in the interference zone, this effect intensifying with increase in the Mach number.     

Boundary layer laminarization on a thermally insulated surface with energy supply to the flow

A subsonic stream of gas flowing over a thermally insulated plate and having an elevated temperature in a thin layer adjacent to the surface is considered. This temperature distribution in the flow can be obtained by providing a volume energy supply near the leading edge of the plate. The results of calculating the position of the line of laminar-turbulent transition on the basis of linear stability theory and the e^N method are presented. It is shown that the presence of a heated layer of gas near the surface of the plate leads to an increase in the stability of the laminar flow and an extension of the laminar interval of the boundary layer. A nonmonotonic dependence of the length of the laminar interval on the thickness of the heated layer of gas is detected. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 58–61, September–October, 1988.     

Application of the wavelet transform for a channel flow in a mixed convection phenomenon

The aim of this paper is to investigate laminar-turbulent transition in a mixed convection phenomenon occurring in a horizontal rectangular duct. Indeed, laminar-turbulent transition is well known in the case of forced convection but the presence of secondary flow induced by natural convection on this transition is not well highlighted. In this study, we will not be concerned by determining a critical threshold value of a Reynolds number of transition but only to estimate the degree of turbulence in the transition regime, i.e. weak turbulence in the case of a mixed convection phenomenon. This is possible thanks to the application of the wavelet transform. The calculation of the Hölder exponent, associated with the maximum value of the singularity spectrum for various experimental conditions allows the degree of turbulence to be measured. The variation of the Hölder exponent versus heat flux and Reynolds number enables us to show that there are two ways to go towards turbulence: thermal by increasing heat flux and hydrodynamic by increasing fluid velocity.     

Atmospheric reentry: Flow regime and optical radiation

The possibility of determining the moment of laminar-turbulent transition under real conditions of hypersonic flight in the earth's atmosphere on the basis of an analysis of the body radiation as a function of flight altitude is discussed. The simple method of detecting the moment of laminar-turbulent transition using the difference between turbulent and laminar heat flow is justified.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 202–204, September–October, 1993.The authors are grateful to A. N. Krasnokutskaya for carrying out the computer calculations and to Yu. A. Epishkin, V. M. Shmanenkov, and G. E. Starchenko for the discussion of the transition problem which prompted them to write this paper.     

The effect of the time structure of laser pulse on the temperature distribution in homogeneous body with coating

In the present paper an analytical solution of the transient heat conduction problem for the nonhomogeneous body, consisting of bulk foundation and thin coating of different material, is presented. This body is heated through the outer surface of coating by heat flux generated due to absorption of pulsed laser radiation. The dependence of nonstationary temperature on the thermophysical properties of the foundation and coating were studied.     

Comparative in-flight and wind tunnel investigation of the development of natural and controlled disturbances in the laminar boundary layer of an airfoil

This paper describes in-flight and wind tunnel research into laminar-turbulent transition. Measurements were carried out with a laminar wing glove for a glider (Twin II Grob G103), which could also be used in the large laminar wind tunnel at the Institute for Aerodynamics and Gasdynamics in Stuttgart. The central aspect of the investigation was the survey of the temporal–spatial development and propagation of natural as well as controlled generated waves. For the experiments performed, varied sensor arrays were used which allowed the two-dimensional acquisition of flow information on the glove (surface hot-wire and piezo foil sensors). Thus the amplification and the spatial distribution of the disturbances could be measured and compared in flight as well as in the wind tunnel, beginning with the very early linear amplification stage to the early non-linear stage of transition. For the investigation of controlled transition, multiple spanwise adjacent harmonic point sources were used which were operated independently.     

Effects of free stream turbulence on the distribution of heat transfer around turbine blade sections

Local convective heat transfer coefficients to a number of modern gas turbine blade sections have been measured under a wide range of mainstream conditions, from notionally steady flows to highly perturbed turbulent flows. The paper discusses the results and, through a detailed analysis of the pertinent boundary layer flow parameters and their relation to the observed experimental results, tests criteria for the occurrence of transition from laminar to turbulent boundary layers, a factor which all the data from this work confirm as critical in predicting the quantitative effects of mainstream turbulence on heat transfer rates. Artificially induced mainstream turbulence, which is endemic in the flows in a real turbine, enhances significantly the heat transfer rates, especially to the leading edge regions and on the pressure surface, particularly when the acceleration is tending to suppress transition. The results presented here confirm existing criteria for laminarisation and the applicability of some of those available for predicting laminar-turbulent transition. The observations also demonstrate how surface geometry can influence the stability of the flows, and the uncertainties which remain in assessing the effect of Goertler vortices and their role in the convective heat transfer process.     

Flows of Supersonic Underexpanded Jets on the Range of Moderate Reynolds Numbers

The results of an experimental investigation of the gasdynamic structure of supersonic underexpanded air jets flowing out of a sonic nozzle into a low-pressure medium are presented. This setting of the experimentmakes it possible to achieve high values of the nozzle-to-ambient pressure ratio at moderate outflow Reynolds numbers characteristic of underexpanded jets issuing from micronozzles. The data on the supersonic core length, the laminar-turbulent transition location, and the jet flow characteristics are obtained. The results are compared with those obtained in microjets flowing out of sonic nozzles. Emphasis is placed on the earlier discovered effect of inverse transition of a turbulent jet into the laminar flow regime with increase in the Reynolds number.     

Robust design of natural laminar flow supercritical airfoil by multi-objective evolution method

A transonic, high Reynolds number natural laminar flow airfoil is designed and studied. The γ-θ transition model is combined with the shear stress transport(SST)k-w turbulence model to predict the transition region for a laminar-turbulent boundary layer. The non-uniform free-form deformation(NFFD) method based on the non-uniform rational B-spline(NURBS) basis function is introduced to the airfoil parameterization.The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II(NSGA-II) is used as the search algorithm, and the surrogate model based on the Kriging models is introduced to improve the efficiency of the optimization system. The optimization system is set up based on the above technologies, and the robust design about the uncertainty of the Mach number is carried out for NASA0412 airfoil. The optimized airfoil is analyzed and compared with the original airfoil. The results show that natural laminar flow can be achieved on a supercritical airfoil to improve the aerodynamic characteristic of airfoils.     

Two-dimensional interaction between an incident shock and a turbulent boundary layer in the presence of an entropy layer

The results of an experimental and numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer in the region of the interaction between an incident oblique shock and turbulent boundary layers on sharp and blunt plates are presented for the Mach numbers M_∞ = 5 and 6 and the Reynolds numbers Re_∞L = 27×10⁶ and 14×10⁶. The plate bluntness and the incident shock position were varied. It is shown that the maximum Stanton number St _m in the shock incidence zone decreases with increase in the plate bluntness radius r to a certain value and then varies only slightly with further increase in r. In the case of a turbulent undisturbed boundary layer heat transfer is diminished with increase in r more slowly than in the case of a laminar undisturbed flow. In the presence of an incident shock the bluntness of the leading edge of the flat plate results in a greater decrease in the Stanton number than in the absence of the shock. With increase in the bluntness of the leading edge of the plate the separation zone first sharply lengthens and then decreases in size or remains constant.     

Stability of subsonic laminar boundary layer on a flat plate with volume energy supply

Reducing frction drag and delaying the laminar-turbulent transition are topical problems of modern aerodynamics. A series of methods of delaying transition are known: creation of a favorable pressure gradient, boundary layer suction, surface cooling, etc., [1, 2]. Here, the possibility of delaying transition by means of volume heat supply to the boundary layer is considered. For this purpose, a subsonic compressible laminar boundary layer with volume energy supply is subjected to a stability analysis. The nonself-similar flow in the boundary layer is determined by means of a finite-difference marching method. The flow stability characteristics are calculated on the basis of the linear theory in the plane-parallel approximation. It is shown that even on a thermally insulated surface volume energy supply to the flow leads to significant flow stabilization and reduced perturbation growth rates.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 62–67, March–April, 1988.     

A new method for computing turbulence in compressible laminar-turbulent transition and boundary layers--PSE＋DNS

A new method for computing laminar-turbulent transition and turbulence in compressible boundary layers is proposed. It is especially useful for computation of laminar-turbulent transition and turbulence starting from small-amplitude disturbances. The laminar stage, up to the beginning of the breakdown in laminar-turbulent transition, is computed by parabolized stability equations (PSE). The direct numerical simulation (DNS) method is used to compute the transition process and turbulent flow, for which the inflow condition is provided by using the disturbances obtained by PSE method up to that stage. In the two test cases incfuding a subsonic and a supersonic boundary layer, the transition locations and the turbulent flow obtained with this method agree well with those obtained by using only DNS method for the whole process. The computational cost of the proposed method is much less than using only DNS method.     

Effect of heated underwater boundary layer of a prolate spheroid on viscous drag

 A prolate spheroid submerged in water can be heated for decreasing the viscous drag because of a decrease in viscosity with increasing temperature. The heated boundary layer experiment, based on this principle, was carried out in a circulating water channel of NCKU, and the viscous drag of a spheroid, with a five-to-one ratio of length to mid-diameter, was also measured by means of wake surveys. The difference of total-head between wake and undisturbed region was measured by two total-head tubes, and the water speed in the wake area was measured by an electromagnetic flowmeter. The results indicate that the viscous drag of the model decreases with surface heating, and the decrease in viscous drag of the model is 13% when the surface temperature is 17 °C above the ambient water temperature. The velocity gradient in the wake region and the total-heating differential readings between undisturbed and wake region also decrease with surface heating due to the delayed laminar-turbulent transition in the boundary layer. The values of the coefficient of viscous drag obtained without surface overheating are found to be in agreement, for the range of Froude numbers investigated, with the results obtained from previous experiments. Received: 18 June 1996/Accepted: 29 April 1997