Transient Characterization of the Reattachment of a Massively Separated Turbulent Boundary Layer Under Flow Control

The transient dynamics of a high Reynolds number separated flow over a two-dimensional ramp submitted to pulsed fluidic control is investigated. A spanwise array of 22 round jets, located upstream of the flap leading edge, is used as actuator to generate co-rotating vortical structures. Simultaneous measurements of wall friction using hot-film anemometry and phase-averaged velocity using 2D2C PIV are conducted. The PIV plane encompasses the incoming boundary layer upstream the flap leading edge, the separation bubble and the natural reattachment region. The dynamics of the separated flow is studied for successive sequences of pulsed actuation. Pockets of turbulence are periodically generated by the separation process and pushed downstream. After the transition period, the controlled flow shows large amplitude oscillations around a steady mean, particularly for the separation area. The transient dynamics of the flow at the actuation activation is also studied. The separated flow is strongly modified by the actuation from the first pulse. Characteristic times of the transient dynamics can be determined by fitting a first-order model with delay on the data. For the reattachment, the dimensionless characteristic rising times defined as \(\tau _{r}^{+} = \tau _{r} ~ U_{0} ~/~ L_{sep}\) of 11.7 for the friction gain, 4.8 for the separation length and 4.1 for the first mode of a Conditional Proper Orthogonal Decomposition analysis of the phase-averaged velocity fields were found. These values are in good agreement with previous studies and are of particular interest for modeling the transients and for further closed-loop control applications.