Computational and Experimental Investigations of Boundary Layer Tripping

Abstract

Supersonic flow over a tapered body of revolution has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. The experimental study consisted of a series of wind tunnel tests on an ogive-cylinder body. Static pressure distributions on the body surfaces at several longitudinal cross sections, as well as the boundary layer profiles at various angles of attack have been measured. Further, the flow around the model was visualized using Schlieren technique. Tests with a natural development of the boundary layer and with tripping were also carried out. All tests were conducted in the trisonic wind tunnel of Qadr Research Center. Our results show that artificial boundary layer tripping has minor effect on the static surface pressure distribution (depending on its diameter and installation location), while the changes in total pressure around the body were significant. Tripping the boundary layer increased its thickness, changed its profile particularly near the body surface. Two oblique shock waves were formed in the front and behind the trip wire. In this study, using multi-block grid, the thin layer Navier-Stokes (TLNS) equations were solved around the above models. Also patched method was used near the interfaces. Good agreements were achieved when the numerical results were compared with the corresponding experimental data.

Keywords

• Supersonic flow
• pressure distribution
• boundary layer tripping
• long axisymmetric body