Visualization of hypersonic incident shock wave boundary layer interaction

Abstract

The incident shock interactions with the hypersonic laminar and forced turbulent boundary layer are visualized by the planar laser scattering technique. The effect of interaction strength on flow structures is also investigated. The results show that the boundary layer shape has been greatly altered by the incident shock. In both the laminar and turbulent inflows, the boundary layer thickness has an abrupt decrease at the interaction region. In laminar inflow, the boundary layer transition rapidly takes place due to the incident shock. The greater the incident shock angle, the bigger the boundary layer thickness downstream the incident shock. In turbulent inflow, the thickness downstream the shock is less than that of the inflow. Fractal analysis is firstly carried on hypersonic shock boundary layer interaction. The effect of the shock angle and inflow condition on fractal dimension is studied. The results indicate that with the stronger shock, the fractal dimension value is bigger for both laminar and forced turbulent inflows.