The production of subharmonic waves in the nonlinear evolution of wavepackets in boundary layers

1999 ◽  
Vol 399 ◽  
pp. 301-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCELLO A. F. MEDEIROS ◽  
MICHAEL GASTER

The nonlinear evolution of wavepackets in a laminar boundary layer has been studied experimentally. The packets were generated by acoustic excitations injected into the boundary layer through a small hole in the plate. Various packets with different phases relative to the envelope were studied. It was found that for all the packets the nonlinearity involved the appearance of oblique modes of frequency close to the subharmonic of the dominant two-dimensional wave. Moreover, the results confirmed that the phase had a strong influence on the strength of the nonlinear interaction. The experimental observations also indicated that although a subharmonic resonance appeared to be present in the process, it alone could not explain the nonlinear behaviour. The experiment demonstrated that the process must also involve a mechanism that generates oblique waves of frequency lower than the Tollmien–Schlichting band.

1999 ◽  
Vol 397 ◽  
pp. 259-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCELLO A. F. MEDEIROS ◽  
MICHAEL GASTER

The nonlinear evolution of wavepackets in a laminar boundary layer has been observed experimentally. The packets originated from disturbances generated by a loudspeaker coupled to the boundary layer by a small hole in the plate. In a preliminary experiment two types of short-duration acoustic pulses were used, one with a positive excitation and another with a negative excitation. The experiments indicated that the packet that originated from a positive pulse displayed nonlinear behaviour at considerably lower amplitudes than that from a negative pulse. However, the preliminary experiments suggested that at some distance from the source the packets were identical in shape with a relative phase shift of 180°. Using complex-amplitude pulses it was possible to extend the experiments to include packets with other phases. This more comprehensive experiment not only showed a strong influence of the phase on the evolution of the packet, but also demonstrated that this nonlinear behaviour is not determined by the local effects of the excitation process. The observations suggested that the important parameter is the phase of the packet relative to the modulation envelope.


1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. McDonald

SummaryRecently two authors, Nash and Goldberg, have suggested, intuitively, that the rate at which the shear stress distribution in an incompressible, two-dimensional, turbulent boundary layer would return to its equilibrium value is directly proportional to the extent of the departure from the equilibrium state. Examination of the behaviour of the integral properties of the boundary layer supports this hypothesis. In the present paper a relationship similar to the suggestion of Nash and Goldberg is derived from the local balance of the kinetic energy of the turbulence. Coupling this simple derived relationship to the boundary layer momentum and moment-of-momentum integral equations results in quite accurate predictions of the behaviour of non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers in arbitrary adverse (given) pressure distributions.


2001 ◽  
Vol 432 ◽  
pp. 69-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
RUDOLPH A. KING ◽  
KENNETH S. BREUER

An experimental investigation was conducted to examine acoustic receptivity and subsequent boundary-layer instability evolution for a Blasius boundary layer formed on a flat plate in the presence of two-dimensional and oblique (three-dimensional) surface waviness. The effect of the non-localized surface roughness geometry and acoustic wave amplitude on the receptivity process was explored. The surface roughness had a well-defined wavenumber spectrum with fundamental wavenumber kw. A planar downstream-travelling acoustic wave was created to temporally excite the flow near the resonance frequency of an unstable eigenmode corresponding to kts = kw. The range of acoustic forcing levels, ε, and roughness heights, Δh, examined resulted in a linear dependence of receptivity coefficients; however, the larger values of the forcing combination εΔh resulted in subsequent nonlinear development of the Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) wave. This study provides the first experimental evidence of a marked increase in the receptivity coefficient with increasing obliqueness of the surface waviness in excellent agreement with theory. Detuning of the two-dimensional and oblique disturbances was investigated by varying the streamwise wall-roughness wavenumber αw and measuring the T–S response. For the configuration where laminar-to-turbulent breakdown occurred, the breakdown process was found to be dominated by energy at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies, indicative of K-type breakdown.


1969 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Gustafson ◽  
I. Pelech

The two-dimensional, incompressible laminar boundary layer on a strongly curved wall in a converging channel is investigated for the special case of potential velocity inversely proportional to the distance along the wall. Similarity solutions of the momentum equation are obtained by two different methods and the differences between the methods are discussed. The numerical results show that displacement and momentum thickness increase linearly with curvature while skin friction decreases linearly.


1989 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
pp. 403-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Laurien ◽  
L. Kleiser

The laminar-turbulent transition process in a parallel boundary-layer with Blasius profile is simulated by numerical integration of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations using a spectral method. The model of spatially periodic disturbances developing in time is used. Both the classical Klebanoff-type and the subharmonic type of transition are simulated. Maps of the three-dimensional velocity and vorticity fields and visualizations by integrated fluid markers are obtained. The numerical results are compared with experimental measurements and flow visualizations by other authors. Good qualitative and quantitative agreement is found at corresponding stages of development up to the one-spike stage. After the appearance of two-dimensional Tollmien-Schlichting waves of sufficiently large amplitude an increasing three-dimensionality is observed. In particular, a peak-valley structure of the velocity fluctuations, mean longitudinal vortices and sharp spike-like instantaneous velocity signals are formed. The flow field is dominated by a three-dimensional horseshoe vortex system connected with free high-shear layers. Visualizations by time-lines show the formation of A-structures. Our numerical results connect various observations obtained with different experimental techniques. The initial three-dimensional steps of the transition process are consistent with the linear theory of secondary instability. In the later stages nonlinear interactions of the disturbance modes and the production of higher harmonics are essential.We also study the control of transition by local two-dimensional suction and blowing at the wall. It is shown that transition can be delayed or accelerated by superposing disturbances which are out of phase or in phase with oncoming Tollmien-Schlichting instability waves, respectively. Control is only effective if applied at an early, two-dimensional stage of transition. Mean longitudinal vortices remain even after successful control of the fluctuations.


1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-204
Author(s):  
R. Camarero

A calculation procedure for the solution of two-dimensional and axi-symmetric laminar boundary layers in compressible flow has been developed. The method is an extension of the integral approach of Tani to include compressibility effects by means of a reference temperature. Arbitrary pressure gradients and wall temperature can be specified. Comparisons with experiments obtained for supersonic flows over a flat plate indicate that the method yields adequate results. The method is then applied to the solution of the boundary layer on a Basemann inlet.


Author(s):  
Stefan Becker ◽  
Donald M. McEligot ◽  
Edmond Walsh ◽  
Eckart Laurien

New results are deduced to assess the validity of proposed transition indicators when applied to situations other than boundary layers on smooth surfaces. The geometry employed utilizes a two-dimensional square rib to disrupt the boundary layer flow. The objective is to determine whether some available criteria are consistent with the present measurements of laminar recovery and transition for the flow downstream of this rib. For the present data — the proposed values of thresholds for transition in existing literature that are based on the freestream turbulence level at the leading edge are not reached in the recovering laminar run but they are not exceeded in the transitioning run either. Of the pointwise proposals examined, values of the suggested quantity were consistent for three of the criteria; that is, they were less than the threshold in laminar recovery and greater than it in the transitioning case.


2001 ◽  
Vol 426 ◽  
pp. 73-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. MASLOV ◽  
A. N. SHIPLYUK ◽  
A. A. SIDORENKO ◽  
D. ARNAL

Experimental investigations of the boundary layer receptivity, on the sharp leading edge of a at plate, to acoustic waves induced by two-dimensional and three- dimensional perturbers, have been performed for a free-stream Mach number M∞ = 5.92. The fields of controlled free-stream disturbances were studied. It was shown that two-dimensional and three-dimensional perturbers radiate acoustic waves and that these perturbers present a set of harmonic motionless sources and moving sources with constant amplitude. The disturbances excited in the boundary layer were measured. It was found that acoustic waves impinging on the leading edge generate Tollmien–Schlichting waves in the boundary layer. The receptivity coefficients were obtained for several radiation conditions and intensities. It was shown that there is a dependence of receptivity coefficients on the wave inclination angles.


1992 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 537-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Yeo

This paper examines the linear stability of the Blasius boundary layer over compliant walls to three-dimensional (oblique) disturbance wave modes. The formulation of the eigenvalue problem is applicable to compliant walls possessing general material anisotropy. Isotropic-material walls and selected classes of anisotropic-material walls are studied. When the properties of the wall are identical with respect to all oblique wave directions, the stability eigenvalue problem for unstable three-dimensional wave modes may be reduced to an equivalent problem for two-dimensional modes. The results for isotropic-material walls show that three-dimensional Tollmien–Schlichting instability modes are more dominant than their two-dimensional counterparts when the walls are sufficiently compliant. The critical Reynolds number for Tollmien-Schlichting instability may be given by three-dimensional modes. Furthermore, for highly compliant walls, calculations based solely on two-dimensional modes are likely to underestimate the maximum disturbance growth factor needed for transition prediction and correlation. However, because the disturbance growth rates on highly compliant walls are much lower than those on a rigid wall, significant delay of transition may still be possible provided compliance-induced instabilities are properly suppressed. Walls featuring material anisotropy which have reduced stiffness to shear deformation in the transverse and oblique planes are also investigated. Such anisotropy is found to be effective in reducing the growth rates of the three-dimensional modes relative to those of the two-dimensional modes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document