Nonlinear Nonmodal Analysis of Hypersonic Flow over Blunt Cones

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The linear amplification of modal disturbances that lead to boundary-layer transition in two-dimensional/axisymmetric hypersonic configurations is strongly reduced by the presence of a blunt nosetip, and the mechanisms underlying the observed onset of transition over the cone frustum are currently unknown. Linear nonmodal analysis has shown that both planar and oblique traveling disturbances that peak within the entropy layer experience appreciable energy amplification for moderate to large nosetip bluntness. The present study extends the previous linear analysis by including the nonlinear effects. Specifically, the perturbation form of the 2D, harmonic Navier-Stokes equations (HNSE) are solved with a fully implicit formulation and the Newton-Raphson method. The increased number of degrees of freedom for the nonlinear system presents difficulties for solution strategies based on direct solution of the linearized system. Such difficulties are overcome by using the GMRES iterative method with a preconditioner corresponding to a simplified Jacobian without the cross derivative terms. The HNSE solver is verified by comparing with nonlinear parabolized stability equation (NPSE) results for the nonlinear evolution of planar waves in an incompressible Blasius boundary layer and in a Mach 6 flow over a blunt cone. Finally, nonlinear nonmodal results are presented for planar traveling disturbances over the blunt cone. The nonmodal analysis demonstrates that entropy-layer disturbances generated close to the nose tip can seed the amplification of higher frequency Mack’s second-mode instabilities further downstream.