Numerical and experimental investigation into hypersonic boundary layer transition induced by roughness elements

Abstract

In this work, the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Oil-Film Interferometry (OFI) technique are used to investigate the hypersonic boundary layer transition induced by single and double roughness elements at Mach number 5. For single roughness, the DNS results showed that both horseshoe vortices and hairpin vortices caused by shear layer instability can affect the boundary layer instability. The generation of the near-wall unstable structure is the key point of boundary layer transition behind the roughness element. At the downstream of the roughness element, the interaction between horseshoe vortices and hairpin vortices will spread in the spanwise direction. For double roughness elements, the effect of the spacing between roughness elements on the transition is studied. It is found that the case of higher spacing between roughness elements is more effective for inducing transition than the lower one. The interaction between two adjacent roughness elements can suppress the evolution of horseshoe vortices in the downstream and trigger the instability of shear layer. Thus, the transition will be suppressed accordingly.