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Free-stream turbulence and the development of cross-flow disturbances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2013

Robert S. Downs III  and
Edward B. White
Robert S. Downs III
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Edward B. White*
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: ebw@tamu.edu
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Abstract

The cross-flow instability that arises in swept-wing boundary layers has resisted attempts to describe the path from disturbance initiation to transition. Following concerted research efforts, surface roughness and free-stream turbulence have been identified as the leading providers of initial disturbances for cross-flow instability growth. Although a significant body of work examines the role of free-stream turbulence in the cross-flow problem, the data more relevant to the flight environment (turbulence intensities less than 0.07 %) are sparse. A series of recent experiments indicates that variations within this range may affect the initiation or growth of cross-flow instability amplitudes, hindering comparison among results obtained in different disturbance environments. To address this problem, a series of wind tunnel experiments is performed in which the free-stream turbulence intensity is varied between 0.02 % and 0.2 % of free-stream velocity, ${U}_{\infty } $ . Measurements of the stationary and travelling mode amplitudes are made in the boundary layer of a 1.83 m chord, $45{{}^\circ} $ swept-wing model. These results are compared to those of similar experiments at higher turbulence levels to broaden the current knowledge of this portion of the cross-flow problem. It is observed that both free-stream turbulence and surface roughness contribute to the initiation of unsteady disturbances, and that free-stream turbulence affects the development of both stationary and unsteady cross-flow disturbances. For the range tested, enhanced free-stream turbulence advances the transition location except when a subcritically spaced roughness array is employed.

JFM classification

Boundary Layers: Boundary Layers Boundary Layers: Boundary layer receptivity Boundary Layers: Boundary layer stability

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Papers
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Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 735 , 25 November 2013 , pp. 347 - 380
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press 

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