Response of a hypersonic blunt cone boundary layer to slow acoustic waves with assessment of various routes of receptivity

The hypersonic boundary-layer receptivity to slow acoustic waves is investigated for the Mach 6 flow over a 5-degree half-angle blunt cone with the nose radius of 5.08 mm. The plane acoustic wave interacts with the bow shock, and generates all types of disturbances behind the shock, which may take various routes to generate the boundary-layer unstable mode. In this paper, two routes of receptivity are investigated in detail. One is through the disturbance in the entropy layer. The other is through the slow acoustic wave transmitted downstream the bow shock, which can excite the boundary-layer mode due to the synchronization mechanism. The results show that, for a low frequency slow acoustic wave, the latter route plays a leading role. The entropy-layer instability wave is able to excite the first mode near the neutral point, but its receptivity efficiency is much lower.     

Wave processes in the shock layer on a flat plate at an angle of attack

A numerical and experimental study of receptivity of the viscous shock layer on a flat plate aligned at an angle of attack to external acoustic perturbations is performed. Density and pressure fluctuations are measured in experiments at the free-stream Mach number M _∞ = 21 and Reynolds number Re ₁ = 6·10 ⁵ m ⁻¹ . Direct numerical simulations of receptivity of the viscous shock layer to external acoustic perturbations in wide ranges of the governing parameters are performed by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with the use of high-order shock-capturing schemes. The calculated intensities of density and pressure fluctuations are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. Results of the study show that entropy-vortex disturbances dominate in the shock layer at small angles of attack, whereas acoustic perturbations prevail at angles of attack above 20°.     

Numerical modeling of the receptivity of a supersonic boundary layer to acoustic disturbances

The receptivity of a supersonic (M_∞ = 6) boundary layer on a flat plate to acoustic disturbances is investigated on the basis of a numerical solution of the 2D Navier-Stokes equations. Numerical results obtained for fast and slow acoustic waves impinging on the plate at zero angle agree qualitatively with asymptotic theory. Calculations carried out for other angles of incidence of the acoustic waves reveal new features of the perturbation field in the neighborhood of the leading edge of the plate. It is shown that, due to visco-inviscid interaction, the shock formed near the leading edge may significantly affect the acoustic field and the receptivity.     

Three-dimensional receptivity of boundary layers

The paper presents a review of results of some recent (mainly experimental) studies devoted to a quantitative investigation of the problem of receptivity of the 2D and 3D boundary layers with respect to various 3D (in general) external perturbations. The paper concentrates on the mechanisms of excitation and development of stationary and travelling instability modes in a 3D boundary layer on a swept wing, as well as in 2D boundary layers including the Blasius flow and a self-similar boundary layer with an adverse pressure gradient. In particular, the following problems of the boundary-layer receptivity are discussed: (i) receptivity to localized 3D surface roughness, (ii) receptivity to localized 3D surface vibrations, (iii) acoustic receptivity in presence of 3D surface roughness, and (iv) acoustic receptivity in the presence of 3D surface vibrations. All experiments described in the paper were conducted using controlled disturbance conditions with the help of simulation of the stationary and non-stationary perturbations by means of several disturbance generators. This approach gives us the possibility to obtain quantitative results which are independent of any uncontrolled background perturbations of the flow and the experimental model. In contrast to the data obtained at “natural” environmental conditions these results can be directly compared with calculations without any significant assumptions about the physical nature of the disturbances under investigation. The complex (amplitude and phase) coefficients of the boundary-layer receptivity to external perturbations, obtained as functions of the disturbance frequency and the spanwise wavenumber (or the wave propagation angle), represent the main results of the experiments described. These results can be used for the evaluation of the initial amplitudes and phases of the instability modes generated by various external perturbations, as well as for quantitative verification of linear receptivity theories. Several examples of the comparison of experimental results with calculations are also presented in this paper. A brief analysis of the state-of-art in the field is performed and some general properties of different receptivity mechanisms are discussed.     

Control of disturbances of a hypersonic viscous shock layer on a flat plate

Receptivity of a viscous shock layer on a flat plate aligned at an angle of attack to external multiwave acoustic perturbations is studied. It is shown that external acoustic waves and periodic controlled perturbations introduced from the surface of the plate mounted at an angle of attack smaller than 20° generate entropy-vortex disturbances with a similar spatial distribution in the viscous shock layer. This result allows numerical implementation of the interference method of controlling disturbances generated in the viscous shock layer on the plate by external acoustic waves at one frequency and at a spectrum of frequencies by introducing blowing-suction perturbations on the plate surface with appropriate amplitudes and phases.     

Optimal disturbances above and upstream of a flat plate with an elliptic-type leading edge

Adjoint-based iterative methods are employed to compute linear optimal disturbances in a spatially growing boundary layer around an elliptic leading edge. The Lagrangian approach is used where an objective function is chosen and constraints are assigned. The optimisation problem is solved using power iterations combined with a matrix-free formulation, where the state is marched forward in time with a standard direct numerical simulation solver and backward with the adjoint solver until a chosen convergence criterion is fulfilled. We consider the global and, more relevant to receptivity studies, the upstream localised optimal initial condition leading to the largest possible energy amplification at time T. We find that the two-dimensional initial condition with the largest potential for growth is a Tollmien–Schlichting-like wave packet that includes the Orr mechanism and is located inside the boundary layer downstream of the leading edge. Three-dimensional optimal disturbances induce streaks by the lift-up mechanism. Requiring the optimal initial condition to be localised upstream of the plate enables us to better study the effects of the leading edge on the boundary layer receptivity mechanisms. Two-dimensional upstream disturbances are inefficient at triggering unstable eigenmodes, whereas three-dimensional disturbances induce streamwise streaks with significant growth.     

Numerical simulation of receptivity of a hypersonic boundary layer to acoustic disturbances

Direct numerical simulations of the evolution of disturbances in a viscous shock layer on a flat plate are performed for a free-stream Mach number M _∞ = 21 and Reynolds number Re _L = 1.44 · 10⁵. Unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved by a high-order shock-capturing scheme. Processes of receptivity and instability development in a shock layer excited by external acoustic waves are considered. Direct numerical simulations are demonstrated to agree well with results obtained by the locally parallel linear stability theory (with allowance for the shock-wave effect) and with experimental measurements in a hypersonic wind tunnel. Mechanisms of conversion of external disturbances to instability waves in a hypersonic shock layer are discussed. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 84–91, May–June, 2007.     

Boundary-layer receptivity to external disturbances using multiple scales

Non-homogeneous multiple scales are introduced to solve the resonant problem of non-parallel boundary-layer receptivity originating from the quadratic mixing of environmental disturbances. The resulting algorithm is computationally inexpensive and can be efficiently included in industrial codes for transition prediction. The mutual interactions between acoustic wave, vorticity wave, wall vibration and wall roughness are discussed in detail and the receptivity coefficient, which relates the amplitude of the excited wave to the amplitude of the exciting sources, is computed. The largest effect is found for the interaction between acoustic waves and wall roughness perturbations. Other coupling mechanisms are less effective. By comparing parallel and non-parallel results, it is found that flow non-parallelism can play a non-negligible role even in Blasius’ boundary layer, although the largest effects are evident for the three-dimensional boundary layer over an infinite swept wing. For the particular case of wall roughness—wall vibration mixing, the velocity disturbance is shown to be exactly equal to the velocity perturbation induced by wall roughness alone on a wall vibrating in the normal direction.     

Disturbance evolution in the leading-edge region of a blunt flat plate in supersonic flow

The spatio-temporal dynamics of small disturbances in viscous supersonic flow over a blunt flat plate at freestream Mach number M_∞=2.5 is numerically simulated using a spectral approximation to the Navier–Stokes equations. The unsteady solutions are computed by imposing weak acoustic waves onto the steady base flow. In addition, the unsteady response of the flow to velocity perturbations introduced by local suction and blowing through a slot in the body surface is investigated. The results indicate distinct disturbance/shock-wave interactions in the subsonic region around the leading edge for both types of forcing. While the disturbance amplitudes on the wall retain a constant level for the acoustic perturbation, those generated by local suction and blowing experience a strong decay downstream of the slot. Furthermore, the results prove the importance of the shock in the distribution of perturbations, which have their origin in the leading-edge region. These disturbance waves may enter the boundary layer further downstream to excite instability modes.     

Characteristics of unsteady type IV shock/shock interaction

Characteristics of the unsteady type IV shock/shock interaction of hypersonic blunt body flows are investigated by solving the Navier–Stokes equations with high-order numerical methods. The intrinsic relations of flow structures to shear, compression, and heating processes are studied and the physical mechanisms of the unsteady flow evolution are revealed. It is found that the instantaneous surface-heating peak is caused by the fluid in the “hot spot” generated by an oscillating and deforming jet bow shock (JBS) just ahead of the body surface. The features of local shock/boundary layer interaction and vortex/boundary layer interaction are clarified. Based on the analysis of flow evolution, it is identified that the upstream-propagating compression waves are associated with the interaction of the JBS and the shear layers formed by a supersonic impinging jet, and then the interaction of the freestream bow shocks and the compression waves results in entropy and vortical waves propagating to the body surface. Further, the feedback mechanism of the inherent unsteadiness of the flow field is revealed to be related to the impinging jet. A feedback model is proposed to reliably predict the dominant frequency of flow evolution. The results obtained in this study provide physical insight into the understanding of the mechanisms relevant to this complex flow.     

Interaction of weak free-stream disturbance with an oblique shock:validation of the shock-capturing method

Transition prediction is of great importance for the design of long distance flying vehicles. It starts from the problem of receptivity, i.e., how external disturbances trigger instability waves in the boundary layer. For super/hypersonic boundary layers,the external disturbances first interact with the shock ahead of the flying vehicles before entering the boundary layer. Since direct numerical simulation(DNS) is the only available tool for its comprehensive and detailed investigation, an important problem arises whether the numerical scheme, especially the shock-capturing method, can faithfully reproduce the interaction of the external disturbances with the shock, which is so far unknown.This paper is aimed to provide the answer. The interaction of weak disturbances with an oblique shock is investigated, which has a known theoretical solution. Numerical simulation using the shock-capturing method is conducted, and results are compared with those given by theoretical analysis, which shows that the adopted numerical method can faithfully reproduce the interaction of weak external disturbances with the shock.     

Algebraic growth in boundary layers: optimal control by blowing and suction at the wall

The upstream perturbations that maximise the spatial energy growth in a boundary layer are called optimal perturbations. The optimal perturbations correspond to streamwise vortices and the downstream response corresponds to streamwise streaks.The aim of the present paper is to find a control by blowing and suction at the wall that zeros the energy of perturbation, when the initial disturbance is itself optimal. We shall also address the question: which kind of blowing and suction at the wall is most effective in controlling optimal disturbances?The problem is examined by a method of receptivity analysis based on a numerical solution of a system of equations adjoint to the linearised boundary layer equations. We shall investigate both cases of a flat and a concave wall.     

Acoustic receptivity of Mach 4.5 boundary layer with leading-edge bluntness

Boundary layer receptivity to two-dimensional slow and fast acoustic waves is investigated by solving Navier–Stokes equations for Mach 4.5 flow over a flat plate with a finite-thickness leading edge. Higher order spatial and temporal schemes are employed to obtain the solution whereby the flat-plate leading edge region is resolved by providing a sufficiently refined grid. The results show that the instability waves are generated in the leading edge region and that the boundary-layer is much more receptive to slow acoustic waves (by almost a factor of 20) as compared to the fast waves. Hence, this leading-edge receptivity mechanism is expected to be more relevant in the transition process for high Mach number flows where second mode instability is dominant. Computations are performed to investigate the effect of leading-edge thickness and it is found that bluntness tends to stabilize the boundary layer. Furthermore, the relative significance of fast acoustic waves is enhanced in the presence of bluntness. The effect of acoustic wave incidence angle is also studied and it is found that the receptivity of the boundary layer on the ‘windward’ side (with respect to the acoustic forcing) decreases by more than a factor of four when the incidence angle is increased from 0° to 45°. However, the receptivity coefficient for the ‘leeward’ side is found to vary relatively weakly with the incidence angle.      

Characteristics of an unstably localized disturbance in a compressed boundary layer

Experiments have demonstrated [1] that the transition of streamline-type flow into turbulent flow in a boundary layer occurs as a result of the formation and development of turbulent spots apparently arising from small natural disturbances. A study of the nonlinear evolution and interaction of localized disturbances requires knowledge of their characteristics to a linear approximation [2]. In the current work, results are presented of calculations of such characteristics for the first two unstable modes in a supersonic boundary layer on a two-dimensional plate (M = 4.5, T_w = 4.44).Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 1, pp. 50–53, January–February, 1976.     

Receptivity of a flat plate boundary layer to a free stream axial vortex

A single free stream axial vortex of controlled strength and position was used to investigate a vortical receptivity of Blasius boundary layer. Excited boundary-layer disturbances were dominated by streamwise velocity perturbations, that grew downstream essentially linearly with the streamwise coordinate. It was shown that the disturbance characteristics are in agreement with data of previous experiments performed under natural and control conditions concerning the ‘by-pass’ transition initiated at high free stream disturbance levels. It was proved that the role of the leading edge in the receptivity process and disturbance growth under consideration is not dominant.     

高超声速边界层中模态转化的数值研究

在高超声速边界层中,第一模态和第二模态是与转捩有关的两个主要不稳定模态.除了不稳定模态,还存在一类稳定模态,其相速度在前缘接近快声波的相速度称为快模态.在感受性过程中,这类模态对激发边界层中不稳定模态起着很重要的作用.前缘感受性理论解释了边界层外扰动激发边界层中第一模态波的机理.针对高超声速平板边界层,利用相似性解剖面作为基本流,采用线性稳定性理论和直接数值模拟的方法研究了快模态和慢模态的稳定性行为.研究发现模态转化的位置与马赫数有关.根据线性稳定性理论的结果定义了临界频率.当扰动频率高于临界频率,第一模态与第二模态同支;而当扰动频率低于临界频率,第一模态与第二模态的共轭模态同支.借助稳定性方程的伴随方程分析了直接数值模拟的结果.直接数值模拟结果表明不论上游是快模态还是慢模态,当它们经过第二模态的不稳定区,它们都会演化成第二模态. 这可用模态在非平行流中传播的特征来解释.      

Nonlinear wave processes in a hypersonic shock layer

Nonlinear disturbance development in a hypersonic flat-plate shock layer (M_∞ = 21, Re _L = 1.44×10⁵) exposed to external-flow slow-mode acoustic perturbations at one or several frequencies is studied on the basis of the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. The mean flow distortion by disturbances and the nonlinear self-interaction between spectral modes is investigated by varying the initial amplitudes of the acoustic waves introduced. The appearance of combination frequencies, both summarized and subtracted, and their interaction with each other is shown to exist.     

Controlling the disturbances in a hypersonic flat-plate shock layer by unsteady action from the surface

The results of a wind-tunnel experiment on the joint action of periodic acoustic fast-mode disturbances of the outer flow and disturbances generated at the leading edge of a plate on the hypersonic (M_∞ = 21) viscous shock layer on the plate are presented. The possibility of positively controlling the intensity of density fluctuations in the plate shock layer by means of disturbances introduced from the leading edge is shown. Direct numerical simulation of the suppression (enhancement) of disturbances under the simultaneous action on the shock layer of the two-dimensional fast-mode acoustic waves in the outer flow and the source of two-dimensional suction/injection disturbances near the leading edge of the plate is performed under the experimental conditions. The experimental and calculated results are shown to be in good agreement.     

Stability of a hypersonic shock layer on a flat plateStabilité d'une couche de choc hypersonique sur une plaque plane.

Stability of a hypersonic shock layer on a flat plate is examined with allowance for disturbances conditions on the shock wave within the framework of the linear stability theory. The characteristics of the main flow are calculated on the basis of the Full Viscous Shock Layer model. Conditions for velocity, pressure, and temperature perturbations are derived from steady Rankine–Hugoniot relation on the shock wave. These conditions are used as boundary conditions on the shock wave for linear stability equations. The growth rates of disturbances and density fluctuations are compared with experimental data obtained at ITAM by the method of electron-beam fluorescence and with theoretical data of other authors. To cite this article: A.A. Maslov et al., C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).     

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.