Boundary Layer Transition Assessment on a Slender High-Speed Vehicle

This paper presents the effect of a single spanwise two-dimensional wire upon the downstream position of boundary layer transition under steady and unsteady inflow conditions. The study is carried out on a high turning, high-speed, low pressure turbine (LPT) profile designed to take account of the unsteady flow conditions. The experiments were carried out in a transonic cascade wind tunnel to which a rotating bar system had been added. The range of Reynolds and Mach numbers studied includes realistic LPT engine conditions and extends up to the transonic regime. Losses are measured to quantify the influence of the roughness with and without wake passing. Time resolved measurements such as hot wire boundary layer surveys and surface unsteady pressure are used to explain the state of the boundary layer. The results suggest that the effect of roughness on boundary layer transition is a stability governed phenomena, even at high Mach numbers. The combination of the effect of the roughness elements with the inviscid Kelvin–Helmholtz instability responsible for the rolling up of the separated shear layer (Stieger, R. D., 2002, Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge University) is also examined. Wake traverses using pneumatic probes downstream of the cascade reveal that the use of roughness elements reduces the profile losses up to exit Mach numbers of 0.8. This occurs with both steady and unsteady inflow conditions.

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Effect of adverse pressure gradient on high speed boundary layer transition

Physics of Fluids ◽

10.1063/1.4864337 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 024106 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Kenneth J. Franko ◽

Sanjiva Lele

Keyword(s):

Boundary Layer ◽

Pressure Gradient ◽

High Speed ◽

Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽

Boundary Layer Transition ◽

Layer Transition

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High-speed boundary-layer transition induced by a discrete roughness element

Journal of Fluid Mechanics ◽

10.1017/jfm.2013.311 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 729 ◽

pp. 524-562 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Prahladh S. Iyer ◽

Krishnan Mahesh

Keyword(s):

Boundary Layer ◽

Shear Layer ◽

High Speed ◽

Roughness Element ◽

Transition Process ◽

Significant Rise ◽

Boundary Layer Transition ◽

Streamwise Vortices ◽

Layer Transition ◽

Mach Numbers

AbstractDirect numerical simulation (DNS) is used to study laminar to turbulent transition induced by a discrete hemispherical roughness element in a high-speed laminar boundary layer. The simulations are performed under conditions matching the experiments of Danehy et al. (AIAA Paper 2009–394, 2009) for free-stream Mach numbers of 3.37, 5.26 and 8.23. It is observed that the Mach 8.23 flow remains laminar downstream of the roughness, while the lower Mach numbers undergo transition. The Mach 3.37 flow undergoes transition closer to the bump when compared with Mach 5.26, in agreement with experimental observations. Transition is accompanied by an increase in ${C}_{f} $ and ${C}_{h} $ (Stanton number). Even for the case that did not undergo transition (Mach 8.23), streamwise vortices induced by the roughness cause a significant rise in ${C}_{f} $ until 20$D$ downstream. The mean van Driest transformed velocity and Reynolds stress for Mach 3.37 and 5.26 show good agreement with available data. Temporal spectra of pressure for Mach 3.37 show that frequencies in the range of 10–1000 kHz are dominant. The transition process involves the following key elements: upon interaction with the roughness element, the boundary layer separates to form a series of spanwise vortices upstream of the roughness and a separation shear layer. The system of spanwise vortices wrap around the roughness element in the form of horseshoe/necklace vortices to yield a system of counter-rotating streamwise vortices downstream of the element. These vortices are located beneath the separation shear layer and perturb it, which results in the formation of trains of hairpin-shaped vortices further downstream of the roughness for the cases that undergo transition. These hairpins spread in the span with increasing downstream distance and the flow increasingly resembles a fully developed turbulent boundary layer. A local Reynolds number based on the wall properties is seen to correlate with the onset of transition for the cases considered.

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