Investigation of the effect of heavy gas injection into a supersonic boundary layer on laminar-turbulent transition

The effect of distributed tangential injection of heavy SF₆ gas into the wall zone of a boundary layer on the supersonic flow stability and laminar-turbulent transition is experimentally and theoretically investigated at the freestream Mach number M_∞ = 2. For the first time it is experimentally shown that in the case of this injection laminar-turbulent transition is downstream displaced.     

Amplitude method of prediction of laminar-turbulent transition on a swept-wing

The amplitudemethod of prediction of laminar-turbulent transition on a swept-wing initiated by the simultaneous action of free-stream turbulence and surface roughness is developed. Generation of growing intrinsic perturbations in the boundary layer is described by the mechanism of distributed generation, i.e., an external perturbation generates an instability mode with the same wavelength and frequency. Generation occurs in a small neighborhood of the neutral point at which the parameters of an external perturbation and the instability modes coincide. The development of proper perturbations in the boundary layer is described by the nonlinear method of parabolized stability equations (PSE). The criterion of laminar-turbulent transition is the combined amplitude. i.e., transition begins at a point at which the sum of amplitudes of steady and traveling modes reaches a critical value.     

Experimental investigation of laminar-turbulent transition behind a three-dimensional roughness element in the boundary layer on a sharp cone

The qualitative characteristics of laminar-turbulent transition behind a three-dimensional roughness element in a zero-gradient boundary layer are investigated for high supersonic free-stream velocities. Quantitative data on the distribution of the heat transfer coefficient in the neighborhood of the roughness element and in the wake behind it are obtained. Another object of the investigation was to compare the data obtained for the position of the laminar-turbulent transition zone with well-known correlations used in practice.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 60–66, July–August, 1990.     

Influence of Plate Nose Heating on Boundary Layer Development

The influence of local heating of the metal nose of a thermally insulated plate on the development of the plate boundary layer is experimentally investigated. The possibility of optimizing the flow past the leading edge and suppressing the turbulizing effect of its roughness by means of heating is demonstrated. Heating makes it possible to delay laminar-turbulent transition of the boundary layer considerably at comparatively low Reynolds numbers.     

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.     

Mechanism of three-dimensional boundary-layer receptivity

Boundary-layer receptivity is always a hot issue in laminar-turbulent transition. Most actual laminar-turbulent transitions belong to three-dimensional flows. An infinite back-swept flat-plate boundary layer is a typical three-dimensional flow. Study of its receptivity is important both in theory and applications. In this paper, a freestream turbulence model is established. A modified fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme is used for time marching, and compact finite difference schemes are used for space discretization. On these bases, whether unsteady cross-flow vortices can be excited in the three-dimensional boundary layer(the infinite back-swept flat-plate boundary layer) by free-stream turbulence is studied numerically. If so, effects of the level and the direction of free-stream turbulence on the three-dimensional boundary-layer receptivity are further studied. Differences of the three-dimensional boundary-layer receptivity are then discussed by considering the non-parallel effect, influence of the leading-edge stagnation point of the flat plate, and variation of the back-swept angle separately. Intensive studies on the three-dimensional boundary-layer receptivity will benefit the development of the hydrodynamic stability theory, and provide a theoretical basis for prediction and control of laminar-turbulent transition.     

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.     

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.     

Mach Wave Effect on Laminar-Turbulent Transition in Supersonic Flow over a Flat Plate

The effect of a Mach wave (N wave) on laminar-turbulent transition induced by the first instability mode (Tollmien–Schlichting wave) in the flat-plate boundary layer is investigated on the basis of the numerical solution of Navier–Stokes equations at the freestream Mach number of 2.5. In accordance with the experiment, the N wave is generated by a two-dimensional roughness at the computation domain boundary corresponding to the side wall of the test section of a wind tunnel. It is shown that the disturbance induced by the backward front of the N wave in the boundary layer has no effect on the beginning of transition but displaces downstream the nonlinear stage of the first mode development. The disturbance induced by the forward front of the N wave displaces the beginning of transition upstream.     

Numerical modeling of laminar-turbulent transition in a boundary layer at a high freestream turbulence level

Disturbances generated by external turbulence in the boundary layer on a flat plate set suddenly in motion are determined by numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The results of direct numerical simulation of isotropic homogenous turbulence are taken as initial conditions. The solution obtained models laminar-turbulent transition in the flat-plate boundary layer at a high freestream turbulence level, time measured from the onset of the motion serving as the longitudinal coordinate. The solution makes it possible to estimate the effect of different factors, such as flow unsteadiness and nonlinearity and the characteristics of the freestream velocity fluctuation spectrum, on laminar-turbulent transition in the boundary layer.     

Effect of a steady periodic velocity inhomogeneity on boundary layer stability

Direct numerical simulation is used to investigate laminar-turbulent transition in a boundary layer with a span-periodic inhomogeneity of the velocity profile which is created artificially. It is shown that the presence of the inhomogeneity leads to a slowing down of the growth of unstable perturbations and a delaying of the laminar-turbulent transition.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 45–52, July–August, 1995.     

Step-induced turbulence in a high-velocity boundary layer

The fact that the stability of the boundary layer on smooth plane bodies (in particular, on a flat plate) at Mach numbers M>5 is very high and laminar-turbulent transition takes place at points fairly distant from the leading edge of the model has given rise to the question: how difficult is it to induce transition (in particular, by means of a step) in a laminar boundary layer at M>5. The present article is devoted to the solution of this problem.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 176–179, January–February, 1989.The authors are grateful to Yu. A. Safronov for assistance with the flow visualization.     

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.     

PSE as applied to problems of transition in compressible boundary layers

A new idea of using the parabolized stability equation (PSE) method to predict laminar-turbulent transition is proposed. It is tested in the prediction of the location of transition for compressible boundary layers on flat plates, and the results are compared with those obtained by direct numerical simulations (DNS). The agreement is satisfactory, and the reason for this is that the PSE method faithfully reproduces the mechanism leading to the breakdown process in laminar-turbulent transition, i. e., the modification of mean flow profile leads to a remarkable change in its stability characteristics.     

Investigation of boundary layer stability in a gradient flow with a high degree of free-stream turbulence

The results of an experimental investigation of boundary layer stability in a gradient flow with a high degree of free-stream turbulence are presented. The question of the possible artificial generation, the further development and the effect on laminar-turbulent transition of instability waves (Tollmien-Schlichting waves) in the boundary layer on a wing profile is considered for a level of free-stream turbulence =1.75% of the free-stream velocity; the sensitivity of the flow to the disturbances and their control by means of boundary layer suction are investigated.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 52–58, March–April, 1990.     

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.     

Numerical modeling of the laminar-turbulent transition control using a dielectric barrier discharge

The control of laminar-turbulent transition driven by Tollmien–Schlichting waves is studied. The control is realized by means of accelerating the boundary layer flow using a dielectric barrier discharge. As distinct from the previous studies based on the solution of the boundary layer equations, the discharge effect on the main flow and unstable disturbances are described by the Navier–Stokes equations.     

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.     

On the Possibility of Delaying Laminar-Turbulent Transition at High Reynolds Numbers by the Optimal Choice of Body Forces

The possibility of delaying laminar-turbulent transition on a flat plate in a longitudinal viscous incompressible flow by the optimal choice of the body force distribution in the boundary layer is discussed. It is shown that even for very high Reynolds numbers, Re 10¹⁰, a body force distribution can be found such that the corresponding boundary layer flow is absolutely stable, while the total drag of the body is less than that in the absence of body force action on the flow.     

Distributed Roughness Effects on Transitional and Turbulent Boundary Layers

A numerical investigation is carried out to study the transition of a subsonic boundary layer on a flat plate with roughness elements distributed over the entire surface. Post-transition, the effect of surface roughness on a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is explored. In the transitional regime, the onset of flow transition predicted by the current simulations is in agreement with the experimentally based correlations proposed in the literature. Transition mechanisms are shown to change significantly with the increasing roughness height. Roughness elements that are inside the boundary layer create an elevated shear layer and alternating high and low speed streaks near the wall. Secondary sinuous instabilities on the streaks destabilize the shear layer promoting transition to turbulence. For the roughness topology considered, it is observed that the instability wavelengths are governed by the streamwise and spanwise spacing between the roughness elements. In contrast, the roughness elements that are higher than the boundary layer create turbulent wakes in their lee. The scale of instability is much shorter and transition occurs due to the shedding from the obstacles. Post-transition, in the spatially developing TBL, the velocity defect profiles for both the smooth and rough walls collapsed when non dimensionalized in the outer units. However, when compared to the smooth wall, deviation in the Reynolds stresses are observable in the outer layer; the deviation being higher for the larger roughness elements.