An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Leading Edge Geometry on the Dynamics of Blunt Fin-Induced Shock Wave Turbulent Boundary Layer Interaction

Abstract

Fluctuating wall pressure measurements have been made on centerline upstream of blunt fins in a Mach 5 flow. Standard time series analysis and conditional sampling algorithms have been used to examine the effects of leading edge sweep, leading edge shape, and fin root modifications on the RMS level and spectral content of fluctuating pressures. Results show that the fluctuating loads can be reduced significantly by appropriate modification of the fin leading edge. Leading edge sweep considerably reduces the mean and RMS pressure loading at the fin root, the extent of the region of unsteady separation shock motion (i.e. the intermittent region), and the separation length. The spectral content of pressure fluctuations in the intermittent region shifts to higher frequencies with leading edge sweep, while the spectral content of pressure fluctuations in the separated region is virtually unchanged by leading edge sweep. Of the different fin leading edge geometries which induce the same size interaction, the 'blunter' configurations produce smaller intermittent regions and larger separated regions. While the use of a strake at the fin leading edge root has virtually no effect, a swept hemicylindrically blunted root fillet reduces the centerline upstream influence and intermittent region length by 50%, and reduces the mean and RMS pressure loading at the fin root by 75% and 95% respectively.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA267656

Entities

People

  • Kelly Kleifges

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Flow Fields
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Geometry
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Power Spectra
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.