The influence of a local wall deformation on the development of natural instabilities in a laminar boundary layer

Abstract

The natural instabilities which propagate in the laminar boundary layer of a flat plate composed of intermittent wave trains are described. A spectral analysis determines the frequency range and gives a frequency and the harmonic 2 only if there is a wall deformation. This analysis provides the amplitude modulation spectrum of the instabilities. Plots of the evolution of power spectral density are compared with the numerical results obtained from the resolve of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation, while the harmonic is related to a micro-recirculating flow near the wall deformation