Mixing enhancement in compressible shear layers via sub-boundary layer disturbances

Abstract

Mixing enhancement results are presented for compressible (convective Mach number 0.63) planar shear layers perturbed by 2D and 3D disturbances located within the supersonic-side splitter tip boundary layer. The disturbances were parametrically varied in shape, spacing, and thickness, and for each geometry time-resolved end-, side-, and plan-view visualizations of mixed fluid were obtained. The mixing layer thickness and growth rate are measured directly from the averaged images. As an indicator of the pressure loss induced by each disturbance geometry, the streamwise static pressure distribution is also recorded. The visualizations reveal that discrete 3D disturbances induce appreciable spanwise convolution, streamwise structure, and thickening of the mixing layer with disturbances as thin as 5% of the boundary layer displacement thickness. The optimal disturbance appears to have an angle of 30° to the streamwise direction and be located at the splitter tip, rather than upstream. Panoramic side-views show that the far-field growth rate increases (45% in one case) for certain discrete 3D disturbances but not 2D disturbances, despite equivalent area blockage. For the most promising geometry, quantitative measurements of the mixing layer thickness, probability of mixed fluid, and mixing efficiency were made using cold chemistry planar laser-induced fluorescence. The perturbed layer shows a slight improvement (7%) in mixing efficiency and a large increase (48%) in layer thickness, indicating that gains in the total amount of mixed fluid occur primarily by layer thickening.