Influence of surface sublimation on the stability of the supersonic boundary layer and the laminar–turbulent transition

Abstract

We report a theoretical study of the properties of a supersonic boundary layer and its linear stability under conditions of surface material sublimation. Calculations were performed for an adiabatic boundary layer for a flat plate with a naphthalene coating at a free-stream Mach number of M = 3 (for the first instability mode disturbances). In the boundary layer, surface sublimation generates a binary mixture flow (air and foreign vapors). This flow is studied using local self-similar boundary layer equations, and it is shown that the rise in the flow stagnation temperature and the corresponding evaporation of the wall material cause significant wall cooling and an increase in the near-wall density of the binary mixture. This modification of the boundary layer profiles leads to a decrease in the disturbance amplification rates. This is confirmed by calculations based on linear stability theory (LST). Boundary-layer stabilization occurs with an increase in stagnation temperature. The influence of surface sublimation on the position of the laminar–turbulent transition was estimated by means of the LST-based eN method. The possibility of increasing the transition Reynolds number by application of the sublimation coating is demonstrated. The results of pilot boundary layer transition experiments performed in a hot-shot wind tunnel are reported. For the first time, a delay in the transition due to the application of a naphthalene coating was experimentally demonstrated. It is also shown that surface sublimation leads to an increase in the growth rates of the second and third instability modes for a Mach 8 boundary layer.