Turbulent boundary-layer properties downstream of the shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the interaction between a shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer. Compression corner models mounted on a wind tunnel floor were used to generate the oblique shock wave in the Mach 2.94 flowfield. Ramp angles of 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 deg were used to produce the full range of possible flowfields, including flow with no separation, flow with incipient separation, and flow with a significant amount of separation. The principal measurement technique used was laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), which was used to make two-component coincident velocity measurements within the redeveloping boundary layer downstream of the interaction. The results of the LDV measurements indicated that the boundary layer was significantly altered by the interaction. The mean streamwise velocity profiles downstream of the separated compression corners were very wake-like in nature, and the boundary-layer profiles downstream of all the interactions showed an acceleration of the flow nearest the wall as the boundary layers began to return to equilibrium conditions. Significant increases in turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses were caused by the interactions, and indications of the presence of large-scale turbulent structures were obtained in the redeveloping boundary layers.