Control of stationary cross-flow modes in a Mach 6 boundary layer using patterned roughness

Abstract

Experiments were performed to investigate passive discrete roughness for transition control on a sharp right-circular cone at an angle of attack at Mach 6.0. A cone angle of attack of $6^{\circ }$ was set to produce a mean cross-flow velocity component in the boundary layer over the cone by which the cross-flow instability was the dominant mechanism of turbulent transition. The approach to transition control is based on exciting less-amplified (subcritical) stationary cross-flow modes through the addition of discrete roughness that suppresses the growth of the more-amplified (critical) cross-flow modes, and thereby delays transition. The passive roughness consisted of indentations (dimples) that were evenly spaced around the cone at an axial location that was just upstream of the first linear stability neutral growth branch for cross-flow modes. The experiments were performed in the air force academy (AFA) Mach 6.0 Ludwieg Tube Facility. The cone model was equipped with a motorized three-dimensional traversing mechanism that mounted on the support sting. The traversing mechanism held a closely spaced pair of fast-response total pressure Pitot probes. The measurements consisted of surface oil flow visualization and off-wall azimuthal profiles of mean and fluctuating total pressure at different axial locations. These documented an 25 % increase in the transition Reynolds number with the subcritical roughness. In addition, the experiments revealed evidence of a nonlinear, sum and difference interaction between stationary and travelling cross-flow modes that might indicate a mechanism of early transition in conventional (noisy) hypersonic wind tunnels.