Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition Experiments
Abstract
New hypersonic wind tunnel data have been obtained to investigate boundary layer transition, with primary emphasis given to tip bluntness and angle of attack effects. The rearward displacement of transition on the cone frustum due to tip bluntness was found to be quite sensitive to free stream Mach number as well as the entropy layer swallowing by the boundary layer. At the highest Mach number obtained in these experiments (M = 9.3), the length of laminar flow could be extended to about nine times the length of laminar flow of a sharp cone at identical conditions. The sensitivity of the maximum rearward displacement of transition with free stream Mach number appeared to be primarily related to local Reynolds number reduction because of pressure losses across the bow shock. Low transition Reynolds numbers typically found on nosetips, extended onto the front portion of the cone frustum. It appears that the still unexplained low transition Reynolds numbers associated with blunt bodies in hypersonic flow includes not only the nosetip region, but the forward portion of the cone frustum. Transition location was found to be sensitive to small changes in angle of attack, and both the sharp and blunt tips produced a rearward movement of transition on the windward ray at small angles of attack. A low supersonic flared nozzle closely duplicated the hypersonic pressure and heat transfer distributions over the nose region of a blunt body.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA093819
Entities
People
- Kenneth F. Stetson
Organizations
- Wright Laboratory