Upstream Flow Deformation Research Articles

Plasma-Based Forcing Strategies for Control of Crossflow Instabilities

The present work experimentally investigates two forcing strategies toward controlling stationary crossflow instability (CFI) induced transition manifesting on a swept wing at subsonic conditions. The effectiveness of upstream flow deformation (UFD) and the base-flow modification strategies, realized through the application of spanwise-modulated and spanwise-uniform dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuation, respectively, is compared experimentally. Specialized, patterned actuators that generate spanwise-modulated plasma jets have been fabricated using a spray-on technique and positioned near the leading edge. An array of discrete roughness elements (DREs) is installed upstream of the plasma forcing to lock the origin and evolution of the critical stationary CFI vortices in the boundary layer. The impact of the phase relation between the spanwise-modulated plasma jets and the incoming CFI vortices is inspected. Infrared thermography is employed to detect and quantify the transition location. A delay in transition is observed with all tested forcing configurations. However, as the incoming CFI vortices are highly amplified due to the application of DREs, the acquired results suggest that with spanwise-modulated forcing the control mechanism responsible for the observed transition delay is not purely UFD; rather the beneficial effects observed leverage on a combination of direct attenuation of the CFI vortices and localized base-flow modification, depending on the aforementioned phase relation. For all forcing strategies and configurations, a simplified drag reduction efficiency estimation is performed using the experimentally measured transition location and the electrical power use of the actuators. A net gain is found for selected configurations.

Effects of Low-Frequency Noise in Crossflow Transition Control

Direct numerical simulations were performed to investigate crossflow transition control by the three-dimensional steady upstream flow deformation technique under the influence of low-frequency fluctuations. In wind-tunnel or flight experiments with discrete roughness elements, the fluctuations most likely arise from the interaction of the elements with background turbulence or base-flow fluctuations. If plasma actuators are applied instead, they directly enhance—unintended by discharge randomness—the low-frequency fluctuation level of the flow, degrading the control effectiveness that is based on inducing steady control vortices. To elucidate the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the promoted transition due to low-frequency fluctuations, the present work focused on localized volume forcing, modeling two actuator configurations, that is, plasma virtual roughness elements and streamwise vortex generators. The noise is introduced by modulating the steady volume force using a broadband low-frequency signal. Even when the steady control mode clearly dominates over low-frequency traveling disturbances, transition can still be significantly accelerated by the known secondarily amplified type III modes. Compared with the much localized active or passive roughness elements investigated in previous crossflow experiments, elongated vortex generators spreading over a larger streamwise distance diminish the receptivity of misaligned traveling modes and thus offer a better control performance.

Control of crossflow-vortex-induced transition by unsteady control vortices

The fundamental mechanisms of a hitherto unstudied approach to control the crossflow-induced transition in a three-dimensional boundary layer employing unsteady control vortices are investigated by means of direct numerical simulations. Using a spanwise row of blowing/suction or volume-force actuators, subcritical travelling crossflow vortex modes are excited to impose a stabilizing (upstream) flow deformation (UFD). Volume forcing mimics the effects of alternating current plasma actuators driven by a low-frequency sinusoidal signal. In this case the axes of the actuators are aligned with the wave crests of the desired travelling mode to maximize receptivity and abate the influence of other unwanted, misaligned modes. The resulting travelling crossflow vortices generate a beneficial mean-flow distortion reducing the amplification rate of naturally occurring steady or unsteady crossflow modes without invoking significant secondary instabilities. It is found that the stabilizing effect achieved by travelling control modes is somewhat weaker than that achieved by the steady modes in the classical UFD method. However, the energy requirements for unsteady-UFD plasma actuators would be significantly lower than for steady UFD because the approach makes full use of the inherent unsteadiness of the plasma-induced volume force with alternating-current-driven actuators. Also, the input control amplitude can be lower since unsteady crossflow vortex modes grow stronger in the flow.

Crossflow transition control by upstream flow deformation using plasma actuators

Control of laminar-turbulent transition in a swept-wing-type boundary-layer flow, subject to primary crossflow instability, is investigated using direct numerical simulations. In our previous works, we explored a direct base-flow stabilization aimed at a spanwise homogenous flow manipulation or a direct crossflow-vortex manipulation by plasma actuators. In this paper, the technique of upstream flow deformation (UFD) is applied, needing by far the least energy input. The actuators, modeled by local volume forcing, are set to excite amplified steady crossflow vortex (CFV) control modes with a higher spanwise wavenumber than the most amplified modes. The resulting nonlinear control CFVs are spaced narrower than the naturally occurring vortices and are less unstable with respect to secondary instability. They generate a beneficial mean-flow distortion attenuating the primary crossflow instability, and thus a delay of the transition to turbulence. Unlike roughness elements for UFD, the employed dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators allow to set the force direction: Forcing against the crossflow has a direct, fundamental stabilizing effect due to a reduction of the mean crossflow, whereas forcing in the crossflow direction locally invokes the opposite due to a local increase of the mean crossflow. The differences between these settings, also with respect to forcing in streamwise direction, are discussed in detail, and it is shown that a significant transition delay can be achieved indeed with both, however with a differing efficiency and robustness. Additionally, a comparison to a set-up with an excitation of the control modes by synthetic blowing and suction is performed to clarify the role of the direct effect on the base flow.

Direct numerical simulations of laminar separation bubbles: investigation of absolute instability and active flow control of transition to turbulence

AbstractLaminar separation bubbles generated on a flat plate by an adverse pressure gradient are investigated using direct numerical simulations (DNSs). Two-dimensional periodic forcing is applied at a blowing/suction slot upstream of separation. Control of separation through forcing with various frequencies and amplitudes is examined. For the investigation of absolute instability mechanisms, baseflows provided by two-dimensional Navier–Stokes calculations are analysed by introducing pulse disturbances and computing the three-dimensional flow response using DNS. The primary instability of the time-averaged flow is investigated with a local linear stability analysis. Employing a steady flow solution as baseflow, the nonlinear and non-parallel effects on the self-sustained disturbance development are illustrated, and a feedback mechanism facilitated by the upstream flow deformation is identified. Secondary instability is investigated locally using spatially periodic baseflows. The flow response to pulsed forcing indicates the existence of an absolute secondary instability mechanism, and the results indicate that this mechanism is dependent on the periodic forcing. Results from three-dimensional DNS provide insight into the global instability mechanisms of separation bubbles and complement the local analysis. A forcing strategy was devised that suppresses the temporal growth of three-dimensional disturbances, and as a consequence, breakdown to turbulence does not occur. Even for a separation bubble that has transitioned to turbulence, the flow relaminarizes when applying two-dimensional periodic forcing with proper frequencies and amplitudes.

Investigation of suction for laminar flow control of three-dimensional boundary layers

Direct numerical simulations are employed to investigate the effects of discrete suction orifices at the wall on the disturbance evolution in laminar three-dimensional boundary-layer flows with favourable pressure gradient. Suction panels with many suction orifices can excite unstable crossflow (CF) modes even if the orifice spacing is smaller than the chordwise/spanwise wavelengths of unstable modes, caused by imperfections in the orifice order or suction strength. It has been found that the most unstable steady vortex mode leads to strong CF vortices that invoke turbulence by secondary instability even on the active suction panel. The deliberate excitation and support of stabilizing vortices that have less than two-thirds of the spanwise wavelength of the most amplified ones – known from the upstream flow deformation or micrometre-sized roughness elements technique – by the orifice order on the panel can secure the desired stabilizing effect of suction and lower the necessary suction amount significantly.

Mechanisms and passive control of crossflow-vortex-induced transition in a three-dimensional boundary layer

Crossflow-vortex-induced laminar breakdown in a three-dimensional flat-plate boundary-layer flow is investigated in detail by means of spatial direct numerical simulations. The base flow is generic for an infinite swept wing, with decreasing favourable chordwise pressure gradient. First, the downstream growth and nonlinear saturation states initiated by a crossflow-vortex-mode packet as well as by single crossflow-vortex modes with various spanwise wavenumbers are simulated. Second, the secondary instability of the flow induced by the saturated crossflow vortices is scrutinized, clearly indicating the convective nature of the secondary instability and strengthening knowledge of the conditions for its onset. Emphasis is on the effect of crossflow-vortex-mode packets and of the spanwise vortex spacing on the secondary stability properties of the saturation states. Saturated uniform crossflow vortices initiated by single crossflow-vortex modes turn out to be less unstable than vortices initiated by a packet of vortex modes, and closely spaced saturated vortices are even stable. Third, we investigate the transition control strategy of upstream flow deformation by appropriate steady nonlinear vortex modes as applied in wind tunnel experiments at the Arizona State University. A significant transition delay is shown in the base flow considered here, and the underlying mechanisms are specified.