Experimental study of crossflow instability on a Mach 6 yawed cone

Abstract

The crossflow instability is studied in the boundary layer on a yawed, 7◦ cone at 5.6◦ angle of incidence. Experiments are conducted in the Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel at Texas A&M University using constant temperature hot-wire anemometry at Re′ = 10× 10 m−1 with an adiabatic wall. Two-dimensional contours of mass flux are measured at a series of axial locations along the cone. Stationary crossflow waves are observed to dominate the flow field and reach saturation. Evidence of traveling waves are also observed to be increasingly confined to the regions between stationary vortices. Secondary instability is observed to arise along the leeward edges of the vortices and exhibits slow growth and saturation-like behavior. Transition was not observed on the model.