The Inviscid Stability of Supersonic Flow Past a Sharp Cone

Abstract

In this paper we consider the laminar boundary layer which forms on a sharp cone in a supersonic freestream, where lateral curvature plays a key role in the physics of the problem. This flow is then analysed from the point of view of linear, temporal, inviscid stability. Indeed, the basic, non-axisymmetric disturbance equations are derived for general flows of this class, and a so called triply generalised inflexion condition is found for the existence of subsonic neutral modes in instability. This condition is analogous to the well- known generalised inflexion condition found in planar flows, although in the present case the condition depends on both axial and aximuthal wavenumbers. Extensive numerical results are presented for the stability problem at a freestream Mach number of 3.8, for a range of streamwise locations. These results reveal that a new mode of instability may occur, perculiar to flows of this type involving lateral curvature. Additionally, asymptotic analyses valid close to the tip of the cone/far downstream of the cone are presented, and these give a partial (asymptotic) description of this additional mode of instability. (Author) (KR)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA227101

Entities

People

  • Peter W. Duck
  • Stephen J. Shaw

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aeronautics
  • Axisymmetric
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computers
  • Curvature
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Instability
  • Laminar Boundary Layer
  • Layers
  • Mach Number
  • Reynolds Number
  • Supersonic Flow

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Linear Algebra

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Boundary Layers