Yiding Zhu

Development of second-mode instability in a Mach 6 flat plate boundary layer with two-dimensional roughness

Particle image velocimetry, PCB pressure sensors, and planar Rayleigh scattering are combined to study the development of second-mode instability in a Mach 6 flow over a flat plate with two-dimensional roughness. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the instantaneous velocity fields and flow structures of the second-mode instability waves passing through the roughness are shown experimentally. A two-dimensional transverse wall blowing is used to generate second-mode instability in the boundary layer and seeding tracer particles. The two-dimensional roughness is located upstream of the synchronization point between mode S and mode F. The experimental results showed that the amplitude of the second-mode instability will be greatly increased upstream of the roughness. Then it damps and recovers quickly in the vicinity downstream of the roughness. Further downstream, it acts as no-roughness case, which confirms Fong’s numerical results [K. D. Fong, X. W. Wang, and X. L. Zhong, “N...

Experimental investigations of the initial growth of flow asymmetries over a slender body of revolution at high angles of attack

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the initial growth of flow asymmetries over a slender body of revolution at high angles of attack with natural and disturbed noses. Time-resolved particle image velocimetry was used to investigate the flow field around the body. The experimental results show that initially different amplitudes of unsteady disturbances near the tip are established owing to the tip imperfections. These unsteady disturbances experience a super-exponential growth near the tip and continue to grow exponentially due to linear instabilities. Attachment of a piece to the tip brings a larger initial difference and extends the super-exponential growth region. Thus, the disturbance amplitudes and their differences are larger for the disturbed case than for the natural case before reaching the neutral point of linear instability. The amplified disturbances lead to different instability vortex strengths in the separated shear layers, which feed continuously into the two primary concentrated vortices. As a result, the primary vortex strengths differ, which result in the initial vortex asymmetry. The experiment results demonstrate that the initial flow asymmetry arises from an asymmetric development of the boundary layer instability.

Image-preprocessing method for near-wall particle image velocimetry (PIV) image interrogation with very large in-plane displacement

Accurate particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements very near the wall are still a great challenge. The problem is compounded by the very large in-plane displacement on PIV images commonly encountered in measurements in hypersonic boundary layers. An improved image-preprocessing method is presented in this paper which expands the traditional window deformation iterative multigrid scheme to PIV images with very large displacement. Before the interrogation, stationary artificial particles of uniform size are added homogeneously in the wall region. The mean squares of the intensities of signals in the flow and in the wall region are postulated to be equal when half the initial interrogation window overlaps the wall region. The initial estimation near the wall is then smoothed by data from both sides of the shear layer to reduce the large random uncertainties. Interrogations in the following iterative steps then converge to the correct results to provide accurate predictions for particle tracking velocimetries. Significant improvement is seen in Monte Carlo simulations and experimental tests. The algorithm successfully extracted the small flow structures of the second-mode wave in the hypersonic boundary layer from PIV images with low signal-noise-ratios when the traditional method was not successful.

Transition in hypersonic boundary layers

Transition and turbulence production in a hypersonic boundary layer is investigated in a Mach 6 wind tunnel using Rayleigh-scattering visualization, fast-response pressure measurements, and particle image velocimetry. It is found that the second-mode instability is a key modulator of the transition process. Although the second-mode is primarily an acoustic wave, it causes the formation of high-frequency vortical waves, which triggers a fast transition to turbulence.

Aerodynamic heating in transitional hypersonic boundary layers: Role of second-mode instability

The evolution of second-mode instabilities in hypersonic boundary layers and its effects on aerodynamic heating are investigated. Experiments are conducted in a Mach 6 wind tunnel using fast-response pressure sensors, fluorescent temperature-sensitive paint, and particle image velocimetry. Calculations based on parabolic stability equations and direct numerical simulations are also performed. It is found that second-mode waves, accompanied by high-frequency alternating fluid compression and expansion, produce intense aerodynamic heating in a small region that rapidly heats the fluid passing through it. As the second-mode waves decay downstream, the dilatation-induced aerodynamic heating decreases while its shear-induced counterpart keeps growing. The latter brings about a second growth of the surface temperature when transition is completed.

Rotor boundary layer development with inlet guide vane (IGV) wake impingement

This paper examines the transition process in a boundary layer on a rotor blade under the impingement of an inlet guide vane wake. The effects of wake strengths and the reduced frequency on the unsteady boundary layer development on a low-speed axial compressor were investigated using particle image velocimetry. The measurements were carried out at two reduced frequencies (fr = fIGVS0/U2i, fr = 1.35, and fr = 0.675) with the Reynolds number, based on the blade chord and the isentropic inlet velocity, being 97 500. At fr = 1.35, the flow separated at the trailing edge when the wake strength was weak. However, the separation was almost totally suppressed as the wake strength increased. For the stronger wake, both the wake’s high turbulence and the negative jet behavior of the wake dominated the interaction between the unsteady wake and the separated boundary layer on the suction surface of the airfoil. The boundary layer displacement thickened first due to the negative jet effect. Then, as the disturbances ...

Aerodynamic Heating in Hypersonic Boundary Layer: Role of Dilatational Waves

The evolution of multi-mode instabilities in a hypersonic boundary layer and their effects on aerodynamic heating are investigated. Experiments are conducted in a Mach 6 wind tunnel using Rayleigh-scattering flow visualization, fast-response pressure sensors, fluorescent temperature-sensitive paint (TSP), and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Calculations are also performed based on both parabolized stability equations (PSE) and direct numerical simulations (DNS). It is found that second-mode dilatational waves, accompanied by high-frequency alternating fluid compression and expansion, produce intense aerodynamic heating in a small region that rapidly heats the fluid passing through it. As a result, the surface temperature rapidly increases and results in an overshoot over the nominal transitional value. When the dilatation waves decay downstream, the surface temperature decreases gradually until transition is completed. A theoretical analysis is provided to interpret the temperature distribution affected by the aerodynamic heating.