Decay of the supersonic turbulent wakes from micro-ramps

The wakes resulting from micro-ramps immersed in a supersonic turbulent boundary layer at Ma = 2.0 are investigated by means of particle image velocimetry. Two micro-ramps are investigated with height of 60% and 80% of the undisturbed boundary layer, respectively. The measurement domain is placed at the symmetry plane of the ramp and encompasses the range from 10 to 32 ramp heights downstream of the ramp. The decay of the flow field properties is evaluated in terms of time-averaged and root-mean-square (RMS) statistics. In the time-averaged flow field, the recovery from the imparted momentum deficit and the decay of upwash motion are analyzed. The RMS fluctuations of the velocity components exhibit strong anisotropy at the most upstream location and develop into a more isotropic regime downstream. The self-similarity properties of velocity components and fluctuation components along wall-normal direction are followed. The investigation of the unsteady large scale motion is carried out by means of snapshot analysis and by a statistical approach based on the spatial auto-correlation function. The Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability at the upper shear layer is observed to develop further with the onset of vortex pairing. The average distance between vortices is statistically estimated using the spatial auto-correlation. A marked transition with the wavelength increase is observed across the pairing regime. The K-H instability, initially observed only at the upper shear layer also begins to appear in the lower shear layer as soon as the wake is elevated sufficiently off the wall. The auto-correlation statistics confirm the coherence of counter-rotating vortices from the upper and lower sides, indicating the formation of vortex rings downstream of the pairing region

Numerical and experimental investigations of the supersonic microramp wake

The flow past a microramp immersed in a supersonic turbulent boundary layer is studied by means of numerical simulations with the implicit large-eddy simulation technique and experiments conducted with tomographic particle image velocimetry. The experimental data are mostly used to verify the validity of the numerical results by ample comparisons on the time-averaged velocity, turbulent statistics, and vortex intensity. Although some discrepancies are observed on the intensity of the upwash motion generated by the streamwise vortex pair, the rates of the recovery of momentum deficit and the decay of streamwise vortex pair intensity are found in good agreement. The instantaneous flow organization is inspected, making use of the flow realizations available from implicit large-eddy simulation. The flow behind the microramp exhibits significant large-scale unsteady fluctuations. Notably, the quasi-conical shear layer enclosing the wake is strongly undulated under the action of Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) vortices. The resulted vortices induce localized high-speed arches in the outer region and a deceleration within the wake associated with ejection of low-momentum fluid. Because of the presence of the K–H vortex, the streamwise vortex filaments exhibit downward and outward motions. The further evolution of vortical structures within the wake features the development of K–H vortices from arch shape to full ring in the far wake, under the effects of the streamwise vortices, which induce an inward motion of the vortex legs and eventually connect the vortex at the bottom

Tomographic PIV investigation of roughness-induced transition in a hypersonic boundary layer

The disturbance generated by roughness elements in a hypersonic laminar boundary layer is investigated, with attention to its three-dimensional properties. The transition of the boundary layer is inspected with tomographic particle image velocimetry that is applied for the first time at Mach 7.5 inside a short duration hypersonic wind tunnel. A low aspect ratio cylindrical roughness element is installed on a flat plate, and experiments are conducted downstream of the element describing the mean velocity field and the turbulent fluctuations. Details of the experimental procedure needed to realize these measurements are discussed, along with the fluid dynamic behaviour of the perturbed hypersonic boundary layer

Study of a Supercritical Roughness Element in a Hypersonic Laminar Boundary Layer

In this study, the mean flow organization ahead and behind a supercritical cylindrical roughness element immersed in an incoming laminar boundary layer at edge Mach number 6.48 is investigated by means of schlieren visualization, infrared thermography, and planar particle image velocimetry. The schlieren images provide a general overview of the shock-wave system developing around the roughness element. The surface heat transfer map obtained with infrared thermography provides an overall description of the near-wall flow organization in the streamwise and spanwise directions. The off-surface flow topology is inspected with particle image velocimetry in the symmetry plane of the recirculation region upstream of the roughness element. The flow approaching the roughness element separates, forming a main recirculation region adjacent to the stagnation line at the cylinder leading edge. The reattachment vortex is responsible for a heat flux local peak in front of the protuberance. Secondary, more complex local foci and stagnation points are observed upstream of the roughness element, which also correspond to the local maximum of turbulent kinetic energy and surface heat transfer