Experimental analysis of suction on step-induced boundary-layer transition

Abstract

The influence of suction on step-induced boundary-layer transition has been experimentally investigated in the Cryogenic Ludwieg-Tube Goettingen at large chord Reynolds numbers (up to 16 • 10 6), Mach numbers from 0.35 to 0.77 and various streamwise pressure gradients by means of temperature-sensitive paint. Surface imperfections, implemented as combination of gap and forward-facing step, caused transition to occur at a location more upstream than in the case of a smooth surface (i.e. without gap and step). For this combination of imperfections, it was demonstrated for the first time in experiments that suction, achieved passively by exploiting the pressure difference between upper and lower side of the model, induced a movement of transition to a more downstream location than without suction, and in most cases even more downstream than on the smooth configuration at the same test conditions. Thus, the effect of suction was to even overcompensate the adverse effect of the combination of gap and forward-facing step on boundary-layer transition for the investigated test conditions.

Step-induced transition in compressible high Reynolds number flow

“…spanwise-invariant) forward-facing steps, placed on an aerodynamic surface perpendicular to a (quasi-) two-dimensional flow. Gaps have been studied in Nenni and Gluyas (1966), Rist (2016, 2017), Beguet, Perraud, Forte, and Brazier (2017), Dimond, Costantini, Risius, Fuchs, and Klein (2019), Dimond, Costantini, Risius, Klein, and Rein (2020) and Crouch, Kosorygin, and Sutanto (2020), among others, while backward-facing steps have been also considered in part of the publications discussed below with regard to forward-facing steps. Combinations of forward-and backward-facing steps in the form of rectangular protrusions or wide gaps have been examined, e.g.…”

“…Combinations of forward-and backward-facing steps in the form of rectangular protrusions or wide gaps have been examined, e.g. in Crouch andKosorygin (2020), Franco Sumariva, Hein, andValero (2020) and Tocci, Franco, Hein, Chauvat, and Hanifi (2021); combinations of forward-facing steps and gaps have been studied in Zahn and Rist (2017) and Dimond et al (2019Dimond et al ( , 2020, focusing on the transition delay by means of wall suction. Wall suction has been also considered in Zhao and Dong (2020) and Lüdeke and von Soldenhoff (2021) to delay step-induced transition.…”