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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Orbiter Boundary Layer Transition Stability Modeling at Flight Entry Conditions

State of the art boundary layer stability modeling capabilities are increasingly seeing application to entry flight vehicles. With the advent of user friendly and robust implementations of two-dimensional chemical nonequilibrium stability modeling with the STABL/PSE-CHEM software, the need for flight data to calibrate such analyses capabilities becomes more critical. Recent efforts to perform entry flight testing with the Orbiter geometry related to entry aerothermodynamics and boundary layer transition is allowing for a heightened focus on the Orbiter configuration. A significant advancement in the state of the art can likely be achieved by establishing a basis of understanding for the occurrence of boundary layer transition on the Orbiter due to discrete protruding gap fillers and the nominal distributed roughness of the actual thermal protection system. Recent success in demonstrating centerline two-dimensional stability modeling on the centerline of the Orbiter at flight entry conditions provides a starting point for additional investigations. The more detailed paper will include smooth Orbiter configuration boundary layer stability results for several typical orbiter entry conditions. In addition, the numerical modeling approach for establishing the mean laminar flow will be reviewed and the method for determining boundary layer disturbance growth will be overviewed. In addition, if actual Orbiter TPS surface data obtained via digital surface scans become available, it may be possible to investigate the effects of an as-flown flight configuration on boundary layer transition compared to a smooth CAD reference.

Bartkowicz, Matt↗
NASA NTRS1991

Compressible stability of growing boundary layers using parabolized stability equations

The parabolized stability equation (PSE) approach is employed to study linear and nonlinear compressible stability with an eye to providing a capability for boundary-layer transition prediction in both 'quiet' and 'disturbed' environments. The governing compressible stability equations are solved by a rational parabolizing approximation in the streamwise direction. Nonparallel flow effects are studied for both the first- and second-mode disturbances. For oblique waves of the first-mode type, the departure from the parallel results is more pronounced as compared to that for the two-dimensional waves. Results for the Mach 4.5 case show that flow nonparallelism has more influence on the first mode than on the second. The disturbance growth rate is shown to be a strong function of the wall-normal distance due to either flow nonparallelism or nonlinear interactions. The subharmonic and fundamental types of breakdown are found to be similar to the ones in incompressible boundary layers.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗
NASA NTRS1996

Control of Unstable Waves in Three Dimensional Boundary Layers

Stability experiments are conducted in the Arizona State University Unsteady Wind Tunnel on a 45 deg. swept airfoil. The pressure gradient is designed to provide purely crossflow-dominated transition; that is, the boundary layer is subcritical to Tollmien- Schlichting (T-S) disturbances. The airfoil surface is hand polished to a 0.25 micron rms finish. Under these conditions, stationary crossflow disturbances grow to nonuniform amplitude due to submicron surface irregularities near the leading edge. Spectral de-compositions isolate single-mode growth rates for the fundamental and harmonic disturbances. The measurements show early nonlinear growth causing amplitude saturation well before transition. Comparisons with nonlinear PSE calculations show excellent agreement in both the amplitude saturation and the disturbance mode shape.

Saric, William S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Nonparallel stability of boundary layers

The asymptotic formulations of the nonparallel linear stability of incompressible growing boundary layers are critically reviewed. These formulations can be divided into two approaches. The first approach combines a numerical method with either the method of multiple scales, or the method of averaging, of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation; all these methods yield the same result. The second approach combined a multi-structure theory with the method of multiple scales. The first approach yields results that are in excellent agreement with all available experimental data, including the growth rates as well as the neutral stability curve. The derivation of the linear stability of the incompressible growing boundary layers is explained.

Nayfeh, Ali H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Transition in hypersonic boundary layers

Linear stability theory for hypersonic boundary layers is presented. The theory is used to study the effects of real gas (under the assumption of local chemical equilibrium) and small nose bluntness on hypersonic boundary layer stability. It is found that chemical reactions have a stabilizing effect on the first mode instability and a destabilizing effect on the second mode instability in hypersonic boundary layers. There is also a tendency for the second-mode instability to shift to lower frequencies. The effect of small nose bluntness is found to be stabilizing.

Malik, Mujeeb R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

On the stability of the decelerating laminar boundary layer

The stability of a decelerating boundary-layer flow is investigated experimentally and numerically. Experimentally, a flat plate having a Blasius boundary layer is decelerated in an 18 m towing tank. The boundary layer becomes unstable to two-dimensional waves, which break down into three-dimensional patterns, hairpin vortices, and finally turbulent bursts when the vortices lift off the wall. The unsteady boundary-layer equations are solved numerically to generate instantaneous velocity profiles for a range of boundary and initial conditions. A quasi-steady approximation is invoked and the stability of local velocity profiles is determined by solving the Orr-Sommerfeld equation using Chebyshev matrix methods. Comparisons are made between the numerical predictions and the experimentally observed instabilities.

Gad-El-hak, M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Stability of boundary layers with porous suction strips: Experiment and theory

Low turbulence tunnel experiments on the stability and transition of 2 D boundary layers on flat plates with and without suction are described. A number of general suction cases are discussed. Test results showed that the maximum stabilization occurred when the suction was moved toward the Branch I neutral point. An analytical study of the stability of two dimensional, incompressible boundary layer flows over plates with suction through porous strips was performed. The mean flow was calculated using linearized triple deck, closed form solutions. The stability results of the triple deck theory are shown to be in good agreement with those of the interacting boundary layers. An analytical optimization scheme for the suction configuration was developd. Numerical calculations were performed corresponding to the experimental configurations. In each case, the theory correctly predicts the experimental results.

Reynolds, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Non-parallel stability of compressible boundary layers

Linear and nonlinear stability of compressible growing boundary layers is studied using parabolized stability equations (PSE). Linear PSE calculations are performed for Mach 1.6 and 4.5 plate-plate flow, and the results are compared with the predictions of the multiple-scales approach. In general, the nonparallel effect appears to be less significant for oblique waves near the lower neutral branch but it progressively becomes important at higher Reynolds numbers near the upper branch. In contrast, the nonparallel effect is more pronounced near the lower branch for two-dimensional first-mode waves. The PSE and multiple-scales results agree for the first mode waves, but in the first-second mode transition region, the latter approach tends to break down. Comparison with the first (oblique) and second mode growth rate data from Kendall's (1967) experiment shows good agreement; however, the peak second mode growth rate is over-predicted. Similar conclusions are drawn for the second mode experiment of Stetson et al. (1983) for Mach 8 flow past a sharp cone. We conjecture that the lower experimental growth rate is due to nonlinear saturation and provide supporting calculations.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linear and nonlinear PSE for compressible boundary layers

Compressible stability of growing boundary layers is studied by numerically solving the partial differential equations under a parabolizing approximation. The resulting parabolized stability equations (PSE) account for nonparallel as well as nonlinear effects. Evolution of disturbances in compressible flat-plate boundary layers are studied for freestream Mach numbers ranging from 0 to 4.5. Results indicate that the effect of boundary-layer growth is important for linear disturbances. Nonlinear calculations are performed for various Mach numbers. Two-dimensional nonlinear results using the PSE approach agree well with those from direct numerical simulations using the full Navier-Stokes equations while the required computational time is less by an order of magnitude. Spatial simulation using PSE were carried out for both the fundamental and subharmonic type breakdown for a Mach 1.6 boundary layer. The promising results obtained show that the PSE method is a powerful tool for studying boundary-layer instabilities and for predicting transition over a wide range of Mach numbers.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗
DOE OSTI2022

Low-Reynolds-number oscillating boundary layers on adiabatic slopes

We investigate the instabilities and transition mechanisms of Boussinesq stratified boundary layers on sloping boundaries when subjected to oscillatory body forcing parallel to the slope. We examine idealized forms of boundary layers on hydraulically smooth abyssal slopes in tranquil mid- to low-latitude regions, where low-wavenumber internal tides gently heave isopycnals up and down adiabatic slopes in the absence of mean flows, high-wavenumber internal tides, shelf breaks, resonant tide–bathymetry interactions (critical slopes) and other phenomena associated with turbulence ‘hot spots’. In non-rotating low-Reynolds-number flow, increased stratification on the downslope phase has a relaminarizing effect, while on the upslope phase we find transition-to-turbulence pathways arise from shear production triggered by gravitational instabilities. When rotation is significant (low slope Burger numbers) we find that boundary layer turbulence is sustained throughout the oscillation period, resembling stratified Stokes–Ekman layer turbulence. Simulation results suggest that oscillating boundary layers on smooth slopes at low Reynolds number ($Re\leqslant 840$), unity Prandtl number and slope Burger numbers greater than unity do not cause significant irreversible turbulent buoyancy flux (mixing), and that flat-bottom dissipation rate models derived from the tide amplitude are accurate within an order of magnitude.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1952

Development of a laminar boundary layer behind a suction point

A theoretical investigation is made of the development of a laminar boundary layer behind a suction slot that is assumed to cut off part of the boundary layer without exerting any sink effect. The development, which is approximate, is based on the heat conduction equation. The heat conduction equation enters the analysis through a linearization of the Prandtl-Mises form of the boundary-layer equation.

EQUATIONS - BOUNDARY LAYER↗
NASA NTRS1987

Three-dimensional stability of boundary layers

The most recent efforts on the stability and transition of three-dimensional flows are reviewed. These include flows over swept wings, rotating disks, rotating cones, yawed bodies, corners, and attachment lines. The generic similarities of their stability behavior is discussed. It is shown that the breakdown process is very complex, often leading to contradictory results. Particular attention is paid to opposing observations of stationary and traveling wave disturbances.

Saric, William S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Numerical stability of boundary layers with massive blowing.

A basis is provided for examining the stability of so-called 'shooting methods' and to examine the stability of the method successfully applied by Nachtsheim and Green (1970) to boundary-layer flow with large injection and heat transfer. The stability of that method is examined and confirmed.

Liu, T.-M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Effect of roughness on the stability of boundary layers

An analysis is conducted on the effect of imperfections consisting of humps and dips on the stability of incompressible flows over flat plates. The mean flow is calculated using interacting boundary layers. Linear quasiparallel spatial stability is used to calculate the growth rates and mode shapes of two-dimensional disturbances. Then, the amplification factor is computed. A search for the most dangerous frequency is conducted based on an amplification factor of 9 in the shortest distance. Correlations are made with the transition experiment of Walker and Greening using the e sup 9 method.

Nayfeh, Ali H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Boundary-layer linear stability theory

Most fluid flows are turbulent rather than laminar and the reason for this was studied. One of the earliest explanations was that laminar flow is unstable, and the linear instability theory was first developed to explore this possibility. A series of early papers by Rayleigh produced many notable results concerning the instability of inviscid flows, such as the discovery of inflectional instability. Viscosity was commonly thought to act only to stabilize the flow, and flows with convex velocity profiles appeared to be stable. The investigations that led to a viscous theory of boundary layer instability was reported. The earliest application of linear stability theory to transition prediction calculated the amplitude ratio of the most amplified frequency as a function of Reynolds number for a Blasius boundary layer, and found that this quantity had values between five and nine at the observed Ret. The experiment of Schubauer and Skramstad (1947) completely reversed the prevailing option and fully vindicated the Gottingen proponents of the theory. This experiment demonstrated the existence of instability waves in a boundary layer, their connection with transition, and the quantitative description of their behavior by the theory of Tollmien and Schlichting. It is generally accepted that flow parameters such as pressure gradient, suction and heat transfer qualitatively affect transition in the manner predicted by the linear theory, and in particular that a flow predicted to be stable by the theory should remain laminar. The linear theory, in the form of the e9, or N-factor is today in routine use in engineering studies of laminar flow. The stability theory to boundary layers with pressure gradients and suction was applied. The only large body of numerical results for exact boundary layer solutions before the advent of the computer age by calculating the stability characteristics of the Falkner-Skan family of velocity profiles are given. When the digital computer reached a stage of development which permit the direct solution of the primary differential equations, numerical results were obtained from the linear theory during the next 10 years for many different boundary layer flows: three dimensional boundary layers; free convention boundary layers; compressible boundary layers; boundary layers on compliant walls; a recomputation of Falkner-Skan flows; unsteady boundary layers; and heated wall boundary layers.

Leslie M Mack↗
NASA NTRS2007

Effects of Nose Bluntness on Stability of Hypersonic Boundary Layers over Blunt Cone

Receptivity and stability of hypersonic boundary layers are numerically investigated for boundary layer flows over a 5-degree straight cone at a free-stream Mach number of 6.0. To compute the shock and the interaction of shock with the instability waves, we solve the Navier-Stokes equations in axisymmetric coordinates. The governing equations are solved using the 5th-order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization and using third-order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta scheme for time integration. After the mean flow field is computed, disturbances are introduced at the upstream end of the computational domain. Generation of instability waves from leading edge region and receptivity of boundary layer to slow acoustic waves are investigated. Computations are performed for a cone with nose radii of 0.001, 0.05 and 0.10 inches that give Reynolds numbers based on the nose radii ranging from 650 to 130,000. The linear stability results showed that the bluntness has a strong stabilizing effect on the stability of axisymmetric boundary layers. The transition Reynolds number for a cone with the nose Reynolds number of 65,000 is increased by a factor of 1.82 compared to that for a sharp cone. The receptivity coefficient for a sharp cone is about 4.23 and it is very small, approx.10(exp -3), for large bluntness.

Kara, K.↗