Instability and Turbulent Bursting in the Boundary Layer,
Abstract
Hydrodynamic stability and transition to turbulence is a central problem in fluid mechanics. The mechanism of the secondary instability adding three-dimensionality to the primary two dimensional Tollmien-Schlicting disturbance has been a matter of contention since the investigation of a convectively driven secondary disturbance by Goertler and Witting (1958) and interacting oblique Tollmien-Schlichting waves by Benney & Lin (1960). The present analysis is restricted to Blasius boundary layer flow and assumes that the primary Tollmien-Schlichting instability, the secondary Goertrler-Witting instability and the tertiary shearing layer instability occur serially for simplicity of analysis rather than the real life phenomenon of simultaneity. This paper studies the stability of the Blasius boundary layer with respect to a finite amplitude Tollmien-Schlichting wave. The stability with respect to a non-linear, convectively driven, cross streamwise periodic disturbance of the resulting flow is then studied and finally, the stability of the resulting localized shearing layers is studied. It is found that at large Reynolds number, the primary disturbance amplitude is about 8% and the secondary disturbance amplitude is about 27% of the free stream velocity.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA160954
Entities
People
- Martin Lessen
- Peng-hong Koh
Organizations
- University of Rochester