Instability Of Three-dimensional Boundary Layer Research Articles

Instabilities in three-dimensional boundary-layer flows with a highly non-ideal fluid

The present work investigates the linear instability of three-dimensional boundary layers in thermodynamically non-ideal regimes. As a representative fluid, we consider carbon dioxide at supercritical pressure (80 bar). The flow set-up is matched to the redesigned DLR (German Aerospace Center) experiment on cross-flow instability, with identical pressure-coefficient distribution (accelerating the flow), sweep angle and Reynolds number, at a low Mach number. The flow temperature relative to the Widom line – also known as the pseudocritical line – thus characterises the non-ideality of the flow. We consider supercritical (gas-like), subcritical (liquid-like) and transcritical (pseudoboiling) regimes, where the flow temperature remains above, below or crosses the Widom line. The stability analyses of the parabolised Navier–Stokes baseflows indicate that wall heating destabilises the flow in the supercritical regime while wall cooling stabilises both effects similar to the ideal-fluid situation but being stronger. On the contrary, wall heating/cooling exhibits reversed effects in the subcritical regime, like for an ideal liquid. In the transcritical regime, with its sharp gradients of the thermodynamic and transport properties, wall heating stabilises the flow. Most substantially, however, wall cooling provokes a changeover of the leading instability mechanism: the accelerated streamwise flow attains inflectional wall-normal profiles, and the invoked inviscid Tollmien–Schlichting instability prevails with growth rates up to one order of magnitude larger than those of the cross-flow mode. We establish a two-fold mathematical relation from the momentum equation that explains the consequence of non-ideality and wall heating/cooling. The streamwise perturbation patterns of the flows in their linear instability regime are shown by mimicking wave trains emanating from virtual point-disturbance sources. From the viewpoint of keeping laminar flows, the transcritical thermodynamic state with a cooling wall must be avoided.

Improved local amplification factor transport equation for stationary crossflow instability in subsonic and transonic flows

Transition prediction is a hot research topic of fluid mechanics. For subsonic and transonic aerodynamic flows, eN method based on Linear Stability Theory (LST) is usually adopted reliably to predict transition. In 2013, Coder and Maughmer established a transport equation for Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) instability so that the eN method can be applied to general Reynolds-Average-Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers conveniently. However, this equation focuses on T-S instability, and is invalid for crossflow instability induced transition which plays a crucial role in flow instability of three-dimensional boundary layers. Subsequently, a transport equation for crossflow instability was developed in 2016, which is restricted to wing-like geometries. Then, in 2019, this model was extended to arbitrarily shaped geometries based on local variables. However, there are too many tedious functions and parameters in this version, and it can only be used for incompressible flows. Hence, in this paper, after a large amount of LST analyses and parameter optimization, an improved version for subsonic and transonic boundary layers is built. The present improved model is more robust and more concise, and it can be applied widely in aeronautical flows, which has great engineering application value and significance. An extensive validation study for this improved transition model will be performed.

A non-perturbative approach to spatial instability of weakly non-parallel shear flows

Boundary-layer instability is influenced by non-parallel-flow effects, that is, the streamwise variation of the mean flow not only modifies directly the growth rate but also distorts the shape (i.e., the transverse distribution) of the disturbance, thereby affecting the growth rate indirectly. In this paper, we present a simple but effective local approach to spatial instability of three-dimensional boundary layers, which takes into account both direct and indirect effects of non-parallelism. Unlike existing WKB/multi-scale type of methods, the present approach is non-perturbative in which non-parallelism does not need to be a higher-order correction to the leading-order prediction by the parallel-flow approximation. The non-parallel-flow effects are accounted for by expanding the local mean flow and the shape function as Taylor series, and this leads to a sequence of extended eigenvalue problems, depending on the order of truncation of the Taylor series. These eigenvalue problems can be solved effectively by standard numerical methods. In the case of the Blasius boundary layer, the predictions are verified and confirmed by direct numerical simulation results as well as by the non-parallel theory of Gaster. The non-parallel-flow effects on the eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and neutral curves for planar and oblique Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves are discussed. The distortion of the eigenfunction is found to have a significant effect, which may be stabilizing or destabilizing depending on the ranges of the Reynolds number and frequency.

On the Secondary Instability of Three-Dimensional Boundary Layers

One of the possible transition scenarios in three-dimensional boundary layers, the saturation of stationary crossflow vortices and their secondary instability to high-frequency disturbances, is studied using the Parabolized Stability Equations (PSE) and Floquet theory. Starting from nonlinear PSE solutions, we investigate the region where a purely stationary crossflow disturbance saturates for its secondary instability characteristics utilizing global and local eigenvalue solvers that are based on the Implicitly Restarted Arnoldi Method and a Newton–Raphson technique, respectively. Results are presented for swept Hiemenz flow and the DLR swept flat plate experiment. The main focuses of this study are on the existence of multiple roots in the eigenvalue spectrum that could explain experimental observations of time-dependent occurrences of an explosive growth of traveling disturbances, on the origin of high-frequency disturbances, as well as on gaining more information about threshold amplitudes of primary disturbances necessary for the growth of secondary disturbances.

Wave-packet method for instability of three-dimensional boundary layer of swept wing

A wave-packet method is proposed to study evolution the behavior of disturbances in 3-D boundary layer on a swept plate. It is proved that the constant-phase lines are equivalent to the streaks observed in flow-visualization experiment and the asymptotic solution of wave-packet equation can give accurate conditions for eN method.

Instability of three-dimensional boundary layers due to streamline curvature

Investigated are the fundamental roles of the curvature of external streamlines in the stability of three-dimensional boundary layers, the partial differential equations governing small disturbances superimposed on the basic flows are modeled by a simple system of ordinary differential equations, which include a nondimensional parameter denoting magnitude of the streamline curvature. The eigenvalue problem posed by the model equations is numerically solved to evaluate effects of this parameter on critical Reynolds numbers of the Falkner–Skan–Cooke family of three-dimensional velocity profiles. Computational results predict the possibility of a new instability, essentially due to the streamline curvature, of the centrifugal type similar to the Taylor–Görtler instability caused by a concave curvature of the wall.

Effect of pressure gradients on the stability of three-dimensional boundary layers

Cross-flow is responsible for the earlier instability of three-dimensional boundary layers than that of two-dimensional ones on aeronautical wings. Its strength is governed primarily by the pressure gradients px and py in the directions normal and parallel to the leading edge, respectively, as well as by the sweep angle of a wing. A typical boundary layer subject to those effects may be the flow on a yawed wedge placed under the pressure linearly varying along the leading edge. An exact solution to the boundary-layer equations is obtained for such a flow state, and its stability characteristics are examined by the use of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation, with particular attention to the dependence of critical Reynolds numbers on the two pressure gradients. It is found that, in the region of a favorable pressure gradient px < 0, an appropriate choice of py can restrain the cross-flow at a very weak level and a very stable boundary-layer flow with a high critical Reynolds number can be achieved in consequence.