Numerical Simulation of Transition in Hypersonic Boundary Layers

Abstract

The laminar-turbulent transition process in supersonic and hypersonic boundary layers was investigated using spatial and temporal Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). Our previous research indicated that oblique breakdown might be a highly relevant nonlinear mechanism for supersonic boundary layers. However, a nonlinear mechanism would only be relevant for the transition process if this mechanism can lead to fully developed turbulence. Hence, to address this question, the late nonlinear transition regime of a supersonic flat-plate boundary layer at Mach 3 was studied using spatial DNS. These simulations demonstrated that a fully turbulent flow can develop via oblique breakdown. We also investigated the nonlinear disturbance development in a hypersonic boundary layer on a sharp circular cone at Mach 8 using spatial and temporal DNS. It was confirmed in these simulations that fundamental resonance and oblique breakdown are the viable paths to transition in hypersonic boundary layers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA563832

Entities

People

  • Andreas Gross
  • Andreas Laible
  • Christina Mayer
  • Clayton Koevary
  • Hermann F. Fasel
  • Jayahar Sivasubramanian

Organizations

  • University of Arizona

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Boundary Layer Control
  • Boundary Layer Flow
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Differential Equations
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Incompressible Flow
  • Turbulent Flow
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Boundary Layers