Effects of suction/blowing on the lower branch modes of the incompressible boundary layer flow due to a rotating-disk

In this study a theoretical approach is pursued to investigate the effects of suction and blowing on the structure of the lower branch neutral stability modes of three-dimensional small disturbances imposed on the incompressible von Karman’s boundary layer flow induced by a rotating-disk. Particular interest is placed upon the short-wavelength, non-linear and nonstationary crossflow vortex modes developing within the presence of suction/blowing at sufficiently high Reynolds numbers with reasonably small scaled frequencies. Following closely the asymptotic framework introduced in [1], the role of suction on the non-linear disturbances of the lower branch described first in [2] for the stationary modes only, is extended in order to obtain an understanding of the behavior of non-stationary perturbations. The analysis using the rational asymptotic technique based on the triple-deck theory enables us to derive initially an eigenrelation which describes the evolution of linear modes. The asymptotic linear modes calculated at high Reynolds number limit are found to be destabilizing as far as the non-parallelism accounted by the approach is concerned, and they compare fairly well with the numerical results generated directly by solving the linearized system with the usual parallel flow approximation. An amplitude equation is derived next to account for the effects of non-linearity. Even though the form of this equation is the same as that of found in [2] for no suction, it is under the strong influence of suction and blowing. This amplitude equation is shown to be adjusted by a balance between viscous and Coriolis forces, and it describes the evolution of not only the stationary but also the non-stationary modes for both suction and injection applied at the disk surface. A close investigation of the amplitude equation shows that the non-linearity is highly destabilizing for both positive and negative frequency waves, though finite amplitude growth of a disturbance having positive frequency close to the neutral location is more effective at destabilization of the flow under consideration. Finally, a smaller initial amplitude of a disturbance is found to be sufficient for the non-linear amplification of the modes in the case of suction, whereas a larger amplitude is required if injection is active on the surface of the disk.