Wind-tunnel simulation of thick turbulent boundary layer

Abstract

An experimental study aimed at revealing the possibility of simulation, in a subsonic wind tunnel, of enhanced Reynolds numbers Re** via modeling a thick flat-plate boundary layer possessing the properties of a Clauser-equilibrium shear flow is reported. We show that turbulators prepared in the form of variable-height cylinders of height h and diameter d = 3 mm and installed in two rows along the normal to the streamlined wall offer rather an efficient means for modification of turbulent boundary layer in solving the problem. In the majority of cases, mean and fluctuating characteristics of the boundary layer exhibit values typical of naturally developing turbulent boundary layers at a distance of 530 cylinder diameters. The profiles of mean velocity with artificially enhanced boundary-layer thickness can be well approximated, in the law-of-the-wall variables, with the well-known distribution of velocities for canonical boundary layer.