The Experiments and Stability Analysis of Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition on a Flat Plate

Abstract

Experimental and linear stability theory (LST) investigation of boundary layer transition on a flat plate was conducted with a flow of Mach number 5. The temperature distributions and second-mode disturbances on the flat plate surface at different unit Reynolds number (Reunit) values were captured by infrared thermography and PCB technology, respectively, which revealed the transition location of the flat-plate boundary layer. The PCB sensors successfully captured the second-mode disturbances within the boundary layer initially at a frequency of about 100 kHz, with a gradually expanding frequency range as the distance travelled downstream increased. The evolution characteristics of the second-mode instabilities were also investigated by LST and obtained for the second mode, ranging from 100 to 250 kHz. The amplitude amplification factor (N-factor) of the second-mode instabilities was calculated by the eN method. The N-factor of the transition location in the wind tunnel experiment predicted by LST is about 0.98 and 1.25 for Reunit = 6.38 × 106 and 8.20 × 106, respectively.

Keywords

• hypersonic boundary layer
• transition
• LST
• <i>e^N</i> method
• infrared thermography