Selective enhancement of oblique waves caused by finite amplitude second mode in supersonic boundary layer

Nonlinear interactions of the two-dimensional(2D) second mode with oblique modes are studied numerically in a Mach 6.0 flat-plate boundary layer, focusing on its selective enhancement effect on amplification of different oblique waves. Evolution of oblique modes with various frequencies and spanwise wavenumbers in the presence of 2D second mode is simulated successively, using a modified parabolized stability equation(PSE) method, which is able to simulate interaction of two modes with different frequencies efficiently. Numerical results show that oblique modes in a broad band of frequencies and spanwise wavenumbers can be enhanced by the finite amplitude 2D second mode instability wave. The enhancement effect is accomplished by interaction of the 2D second mode, the oblique mode, and a forced mode with difference frequency. Two types of oblique modes are found to be more amplified, i.e., oblique modes with frequency close to that of the 2D second mode and low-frequency first mode oblique waves. Each of them may correspond to one type of transition routes found in transition experiments. The spanwise wavenumber of the oblique wave preferred by the nonlinear interaction is also determined by numerical simulations.     

Analysis on secondary instability of shear layer based on the concept of phase synchronization

A concept of phase synchronization point is proposed, and then a model is built using this concept to explain secondary instabilities. This model has been used to determine the conditions of K- and H-type secondary instabilities, which are coincident with the conditions published in literatures. It also can be used to analyze other secondary instability phenomena. For example, the numerical results validate the analysis results in the case of 1/3rd subharmonic mode secondary instability. Furthermore, the numerical results indicate that the spanwise wave number of 3D disturbance has significant effect on the secondary instability.     

Features of the supercritical transition in the wake of a circular cylinder

The features of the wake behind a uniform circular cylinder atRe=200, which is just beyond the critical Reynolds number of 3-D transition, are investigated in detail by direct numerical simulations by solving 3-D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations using mixed spectral-spectral-element method. The high-order splitting algorithm based on the mixed stiffly stable scheme is employed in the time discretization. Due to the nonlinear evolution of the secondary instability of the wake, the spanwise modes with different wavelengths emerge. The spanwise characteristic length determines the transition features and global properties of the wake. The existence of the spanwise phase difference of the primary vortices shedding is confirmed by Fourier analysis of the time series of the spanwise vorticity and attributed to the dominant spanwise mode. The spatial energy distributions of various modes and the velocity profiles in the near wake are obtained. The numerical results indicate that the near wake is in 3-D quasi-periodic laminar state with transitional behaviors at this supercritical Reynolds number. The project supported by the State Key Fundamental Research Project of “Large Scale Scientific Computation Research” (G199903281)     

The effect of three-dimensionality on the aerodynamic admittance of thin sections in free stream turbulence

The unsteady behaviour of a thin plate section or aerofoil strip in a turbulent wind field is described by a two-wavenumber extension of the well known single wavenumber Sears function. The second (spanwise) wavenumber is introduced to deal with the three dimensional effects of the turbulence. The present work considers the unsteady forces induced on finite span sections and investigates the influence of the ratio of span to chord (aspect-ratio) of the section on these three dimensional effects. The analysis shows that the influence of the spanwise wavenumber becomes negligible for the aerodynamic admittance of buffeting lift forces for large enough aspect-ratios, such as those typical of modern long-span bridges, thus supporting the use of strip-theory in these cases.     

Spanwise effects on instabilities of compressible flow over a long rectangular cavity

The stability properties of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) compressible flows over a rectangular cavity with length-to-depth ratio of \(L/D=6\) are analyzed at a free-stream Mach number of \(M_\infty =0.6\) and depth-based Reynolds number of \(Re_D=502\). In this study, we closely examine the influence of three-dimensionality on the wake mode that has been reported to exhibit high-amplitude fluctuations from the formation and ejection of large-scale spanwise vortices. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) and bi-global stability analysis are utilized to study the stability characteristics of the wake mode. Using the bi-global stability analysis with the time-averaged flow as the base state, we capture the global stability properties of the wake mode at a spanwise wavenumber of \(\beta =0\). To uncover spanwise effects on the 2D wake mode, 3D DNS are performed with cavity width-to-depth ratio of \(W/D=1\) and 2. We find that the 2D wake mode is not present in the 3D cavity flow with \(W/D=2\), in which spanwise structures are observed near the rear region of the cavity. These 3D instabilities are further investigated via bi-global stability analysis for spanwise wavelengths of \(\lambda /D=0.5{-}2.0\) to reveal the eigenspectra of the 3D eigenmodes. Based on the findings of 2D and 3D global stability analysis, we conclude that the absence of the wake mode in 3D rectangular cavity flows is due to the release of kinetic energy from the spanwise vortices to the streamwise vortical structures that develops from the spanwise instabilities.     

POD analysis of the instability mode of a low-speed streak in a laminar boundary layer

The instability of one single low-speed streak in a zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer is investigated experimentally via both hydrogen bubble visualization and planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement. A single low-speed streak is generated and destabilized by the wake of an interference wire positioned normal to the wall and in the upstream. The downstream development of the streak includes secondary instability and self-reproduction process, which leads to the generation of two additional streaks appearing on either side of the primary one. A proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis of PIV measured velocity field is used to identify the components of the streak instability in the POD mode space: for a sinuous/varicose type of POD mode, its basis functions present anti-symmetric/symmetric distributions about the streak centerline in the streamwise component, and the symmetry condition reverses in the spanwise component. It is further shown that sinuous mode dominates the turbulent kinematic energy (TKE) through the whole streak evolution process, the TKE content first increases along the streamwise direction to a saturation value and then decays slowly. In contrast, varicose mode exhibits a sustained growth of the TKE content, suggesting an increasing competition of varicose instability against sinuous instability.     

Influence of inlet shear on the 3-D flow past a square cylinder at moderate Reynolds number

Unsteady three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of linear shear flow past a square cylinder at moderate Reynolds number (Re=200) are performed. The shear parameter (K) considered in this study is varied as 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2. For the uniform flow (K=0.0) case, the chosen Re falls in the transition Reynolds number range. The low frequency force pulsations of square cylinder transition phenomena are observed to decrease with increasing shear parameter. The evolution of streamwise vortical structures indicates a mode A spanwise instability in the uniform flow. Unlike in uniform flow, mixed mode A and mode B spanwise instability is observed in the case of a shear flow. The autocorrelation function of the lift and the drag coefficients is improved for any particular separation distance with increasing K.     

On the application of en-methods to three-dimensional boundary-layer flows

Extension of the eⁿ-method from two-dimensional to three-dimensional boundary-layer flows has not been straightforward. Confusion has centred on whether to use temporal or spatial stability theories, conversion between the two approaches, and the choice of integration path. The aim of this study is to clarify the confusion about the direction and magnitude of maximum growth in convectively unstable three-dimensional non-parallel boundary layers. To this end, the time-asymptotic response of the boundary layer to an impulsive point excitation is considered. Since all frequencies and all wavenumbers are excited by an impulsive point source, the most amplified component of the response is equivalent to the result of maximizing the growth over arbitrary choices of harmonic point excitation; the standard eⁿ-approach. The impulse response is calculated using a spatial steepest-descent method, which is distinct from the earlier Cebeci–Stewartson method. It is necessary to allow both time and spanwise distance to become complex during integration, but with the constraint that both are real at the end point. This method has been applied to the two-dimensional Blasius boundary layer, for which validation of the method is more straightforward, and also to a three-dimensional Falkner–Skan–Cooke (with non-zero pressure gradient and sweep) boundary layer. Dimensional frequencies and spanwise wavenumbers of propagating components are kept constant (although not necessarily real), as is physically relevant to steady flows with spatial inhomogeneity in the chordwise direction only. With this method a spatial approach is taken without having to make a priori choices about the value of disturbance frequency or wavenumber. Further, purely by choosing a downstream observation point, it is possible to find the maximum-amplitude component directly without having to calculate the entire impulse response (or wave packet). If the flow is susceptible to more than one convective instability mode, provided the modes are separated in the frequency–wavenumber space, separate n-factors can be calculated for each mode. Wave-packet propagation in the Ekman layer (a strictly parallel three-dimensional boundary layer) is also discussed to draw comparisons between the conditions for maximum growth in parallel and non-parallel boundary layers.     

Characteristics of wall pressure fluctuations in separated and reattaching flows over a backward-facing step: Part I. Time-mean statistics and cross-spectral analyses

 Laboratory measurements were made of wall pressure fluctuations in separated and reattaching flows over a backward-facing step. An array of 32 microphones in the streamwise as well as the spanwise directions was utilized. The statistical properties of pressure fluctations were scrutinized. Emphasis was placed on the flow inhomogeneity in the streamwise direction. One-point statistics such as the streamwise distribution of rms pressure and autospectra were shown to be generally consistent with the prior results. The peak frequency and the fall-off rate of autospectra demonstrated the shear layer-originated nature of pressure fluctuations. The coherences and wavenumber spectra in the streamwise and spanwise directions were indicative of the presence of dual modes in pressure; one is associated with the large-scale vortical structure in the low-frequency region and the other is the boundary-layer-like decaying mode in the high-frequency region. Received: 18 August 1999/Accepted: 17 May 2000     

The effect of wall cooling on compressible Görtler vortices

It is known that in adiabatic boundary layer flow over a curved surface the detailed structure of the spanwise periodic Görtler vortex instability varies markedly over the range of spanwise wavelength. At short wavelengths the modes tend to be concentrated in a well-defined thin zone located within the boundary layer. As the vortex wavenumber diminishes so the region of vortex activity is first driven to the bounding wall but subsequently expands to cover the entire boundary layer at which stage the modes take on a principally inviscid form. At yet longer wavelengths the vortices are given by the solution of an interactive multi-deck structure which has some similarities with that for Tollmien–Schlichting waves.In this work we investigate how the application of wall cooling affects the above scenario. It is shown how cooling both restricts the range of mode types and gives rise to two new structures. The first, for moderate cooling and which relates to longer wavelengths, is interactive in nature. Here the viscous–inviscid interaction between an essentially inviscid Görtler problem, albeit for an effective basic flow which in its general form has a non-standard near-wall structure, and a viscous sublayer is provided by novel boundary conditions. Shorter wavelength vortices are largely unaffected by wall cooling unless this is quite severe. However when this degree of cooling is applied, the vortices take on a fully viscous form and are confined to a thin region next to the bounding wall wherein the basic flow assumes an analytic form. Numerical solutions are obtained and we provide evidence as to how the two new structures are related both to each other and to the previously known uncooled results.     

Criteria of hydrodynamic instability of a phase interface in hydrothermal systems

The loss of stability of a vertical phase flow in a geothermal system in which a liquid layer overlies a vapor layer is considered. The loss of stability criteria are obtained in explicit form. It is found that when the physical parameters of the system are varied the transition to phase interface instability can be realized by means of one of the following mechanisms: the transition occurs spontaneously for any perturbation wavenumber (degenerate case); an unstable wavenumber arises at infinity; the instability threshold is determined by a double zero wavenumber. In the latter case the transition to instability is accompanied by simple resonance bifurcation. As a result of this bifurcation, secondary regimes dependent on the horizontal coordinate branch off from the basic regime describing the horizontally-homogeneous vertical phase flows.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, 2004, pp. 100–109. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Ilichev and Tsypkin.     

TEMPORAL STABILITY OF FLOW THROUGH VISCOELASTIC TUBES

The stability of the Hagen–Poiseuille flow of a Newtonian fluid in an incompressible, viscoelastic tube contained within a rigid, hollow cylinder is determined using linear stability analysis. The stability of the system subjected to infinitesimal axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric disturbances is considered. The fluid and wall inertia terms are retained in their respective equations of motion. A novel numerical strategy is introduced to study the stability of the coupled fluid–structure system. The strategy alleviates the need for aninitial guess and thus ensures that all the unstable modes within a given closed region in the complex eigenvalue plane will be found. It is found that the system is unstable to both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric disturbances. Moreover, depending on the values of the control parameters, the first unstable mode can be either an axisymmetric mode with the azimuthal wavenumber n=0 or a non-axisymmetric mode withn =1. For a given azimuthal wavenumber, it is found that there are no more than two unstable modes within the closed region considered here in the complex plane. For both the axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric instabilities, one mode is a solid-based, flow-induced surface instability, while the other one is a fluid-based instability that asymptotes to the least-damped rigid-wall mode as the thickness of the compliant wall tends to zero. All four modes are stabilized, to different degrees, by the solid viscosity.     

Secondary wake instabilities of a blunt trailing edge profiled body as a basis for flow control

Flow in the wake of a blunt trailing edge profiled body, comprised of an elliptical leading edge and a rectangular trailing edge, has been investigated experimentally, to identify and characterize the secondary instabilities accompanying the von Kármán vortices. The experiments, which involve laser-induced fluorescence for visualization and particle image velocimetry for quantitative measurement of the wake instabilities, cover Reynolds numbers ranging from 250 to 2,150 based on thickness of the body, to include the wake transition regime. The dominant secondary instability appears as spanwise undulations in von Kármán vortices, which evolve into pairs of counter-rotating vortices, with features resembling the instability mechanism predicted by Ryan et al. (J Fluid Mech 538:1–29, 2005). Feasibility of a flow control approach based on interaction with the secondary instability using a series of discrete trailing edge injectors has also been investigated. The control approach mitigates the adverse effects of vortex shedding in certain conditions, where it is able to amplify the secondary instability effectively.     

Nonlinear evolution of Klebanoff type second mode disturbances in supersonic flat-plate boundary layer简

Studying the evolution of 3D disturbances is of crucial theoretical importance for understanding the transition process. The present study concerns the nonlinear evolution of second mode unstable disturbances in a supersonic boundary layer by the numerical simulation, and discusses the selectivity of 3D disturbances and possibility to transition. The results indicate that a Klebanoff type nonlinear interaction between 2D and 3D disturbances with the same frequency may amplify a band of 3D disturbances centered at a finite spanwise wavenumber. That is, certain 3D disturbances can be selectively and rapidly amplified by the unstable 2D disturbances, and certain small-scale 3D structures will appear.     

Effect of the domain spanwise periodic length on the flow around a circular cylinder

We assess the effect of the choice of spanwise periodic length on simulations of the flow around a fixed circular cylinder. The Reynolds number is set to 400 because, at this value, both lift coefficient and shedding frequency show significant drop due to three-dimensional flow structures. From the analysis of the three-dimensionalities of the wake and of the integral quantities such as Strouhal number, RMS of lift coefficient and energy contained in the three-dimensional portion of the flow we obtain an estimate of the minimum spanwise length to satisfactorily represent the flow. Furthermore, we observe a distinct wake behavior when the spanwise length is approximately the mode B instability wavelength.     

Viscous and Inviscid Instabilities of Flow Along a Streamwise Corner

Here we consider the stability of flow along a streamwise corner formed by the intersection of two large flat plates held perpendicular to each other. Self-similar solutions for the steady laminar mean flow in the corner region have been obtained by solving the boundary layer equations for zero and nonzero streamwise pressure gradients. The stability of the mean flow is investigated using linear stability analysis. An eigensolver has been developed to solve the resulting linear eigenvalue problem either in a global mode to obtain an approximation to all the dominant eigenmodes or in a local mode to refine a particular eigenmode. The stability results indicate that the entire spectrum of two-dimensional and oblique viscous modes of a two-dimensional Blasius boundary layer is active in the case of a corner layer as well, but away from the cornerline. In a corner region of finite spanwise extent, the continuous spectrum of oblique modes degenerates to a discrete spectrum of modes of increasing spanwise wave number. The effect of the corner on the two-dimensional viscous instability is small and decreases the growth rate. The growth rate of outgoing oblique disturbances is observed to decrease, while the growth rate of incoming oblique disturbances is enhanced by the corner. This asymmetry between the outgoing and incoming viscous modes increases with increasing obliqueness of the disturbance. The instability of a zero pressure gradient corner layer is dominated by the viscous modes; however, an inviscid corner mode is also observed. The critical Reynolds number of the inviscid mode rapidly decreases with even a small adverse streamwise pressure gradient and the inviscid mode becomes the dominant one. Received 17 March 1998 and accepted 28 April 1999     

Transition control in a three-dimensional boundary layer by direct attenuation of nonlinear crossflow vortices using plasma actuators

Direct numerical simulations are used to probe the potential of plasma actuators to attenuate nonlinear steady crossflow vortices (CFVs). The investigated base flow mimics the three-dimensional boundary-layer flow of a swept wing. The plasma actuators are positioned at selected spanwise positions to weaken oncoming CFVs and thus the associated (secondary) instability. It is shown that both volume forcing against or in the direction of the crossflow (CF) can be effective, and a significant transition delay can be achieved. The spanwise position of the actuators should be such that the actuation-induced downdraft inhibits the CFV. The forcing in the direction of the CF does not reduce the mean CF, and an unfavourable spanwise position of the actuator may directly increase the strength of the CFV and eventually promote turbulence onset. The forcing against the CF never turned out to promote turbulence onset for all investigated positions, because of the favourable reduction of the mean CF. Adding then a second or third actuator downstream at appropriate spanwise positions can yield enhanced transition delay.     

Direct Numerical Simulation of the Three-Dimensional Transition to Turbulence in the Incompressible Flow around a Wing

The onset of the secondary instability and the successive steps ofthe 3D transition to turbulence are examined in the flow around a wing of NACA0012 section, constant along the spanwise direction. The wing is placed in a uniform flow upstream, at 20° of incidence and at the Reynolds number of 800. The spanwise length is equal to four chords. The objectives of this study are the identification of the three-dimensional transition mechanism and the development of the early stages of turbulence in the present class of unsteady aerodynamic flows. A detailed processing of the DNS signals carried out by an appropriate conditional sampling allows the identification of the physical mechanisms related to the birth of turbulence and to the non-linear interaction with the 3D coherent structures in the near region.     

三维扰动波的非平行边界层稳定性研究

导出了三维扰动波的原始变量形式的抛物化稳定性方程（PSE）,研究了三维空间模态TS波的非平行边界层稳定性问题.采用了法向四阶紧致格式,以提高计算精度.通过给出不会导致奇性的坐标变换、修改外边界条件以及克服平行流初始值的瞬态影响和推进步长的限制,保证了计算的数值稳定.用补全元素带状矩阵法求解块三对角矩阵,大大提高了速度.计算结果清楚地显示了三维扰动波的演化过程和非平行性对边界层稳定性的影响,特别是,观察到非平行性对三维扰动波的影响,有时会使其稳定性出现逆转的现象.还研究了逆压梯度的作用.算例的结果与其他结果符合良好.