3D optimal forcing and response of a 2D supersonic boundary layer are obtained by computing the largest singular value and the associated singular vectors of the global resolvent matrix. This approach allows to take into account both convective-type and component-type non-normalities responsible for the non-modal growth of perturbations in noise selective amplifier flows. It is moreover a fully non-parallel approach that does not require any particular assumptions on the baseflow. The numerical method is based on the explicit calculation of the Jacobian matrix proposed by Mettot et al. [1] for 2D perturbations. This strategy uses the numerical residual of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations imported from a finite-volume solver that is then linearised employing a finite difference method. Extension to 3D perturbations, which are expanded into modes of wave number, is here proposed by decomposing the Jacobian matrix according to the direction of the derivatives contained in its coefficients. Validation is performed on a Blasius boundary layer and a supersonic boundary layer, in comparison respectively to global and local results. Application of the method to a boundary layer at M = 4.5 recovers three regions of receptivity in the frequency-transverse wave number space. Finally, the energy growth of each optimal response is studied and discussed.

Abstract

Resolvent analysis is used to study the low-frequency behaviour of the laminar oblique shock wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI). It is shown that the computed optimal gain, which can be seen as a transfer function of the system, follows a first-order low-pass filter equation, recovering the results of Touber & Sandham (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 671, 2011, pp. 417–465). This behaviour is understood as proceeding from the excitation of a single stable, steady global mode whose damping rate sets the time scale of the filter. Different Mach and Reynolds numbers are studied, covering different recirculation lengths $L$ . This damping rate is found to scale as $1/L$ , leading to a constant Strouhal number $St_{L}$ as observed in the literature. It is associated with a breathing motion of the recirculation bubble. This analysis furthermore supports the idea that the low-frequency dynamics of the SWBLI is a forced dynamics, in which background perturbations continuously excite the flow. The investigation is then carried out for three-dimensional perturbations for which two regimes are identified. At low wavenumbers of the order of $L$ , a modal mechanism similar to that of two-dimensional perturbations is found and exhibits larger values of the optimal gain. At larger wavenumbers, of the order of the boundary layer thickness, the growth of streaks, which results from a non-modal mechanism, is detected. No interaction with the recirculation region is observed. Based on these results, the potential prevalence of three-dimensional effects in the low-frequency dynamics of the SWBLI is discussed.