Nonlinear development of a wave in a boundary layer

Abstract

In recent years definite progress has been achieved in the construction of theoretical models of nonlinear wave processes which lead to a transition from laminar to turbulent flow [1, 2]. At the same time, there is a shortage of actual experimental material, especially for flows in a boundary layer. Fairly thorough experimental studies have been carried out only on the initial stage of the development of disturbances in a boundary layer, which is satisfactorily describable by the linear theory of hydrodynamic stability. In evaluating the theoretical models of subsequent stages of the transition, investigators have been forced to turn chiefly to much earlier experiments carried out by the United States National Bureau of Standards [3, 4], in which the main attention was concentrated on the three-dimensional structure of the transition region. The present investigation was undertaken for the purpose of obtaining detailed data on the structure of the flow in the transition region when there is disturbance in the laminar boundary layer of a two-dimensional wave. In order to make the two-dimensional nonlinear effects stand out more clearly, the amplitude of the wave was specified to be fairly large from the very outset. In contrast to earlier investigations, the main attention was centered on the study of the spectral composition of the disturbance field.