Study of flow control by localized volume heating in hypersonic boundary layers

• Published in: CEAS space journal Vol. 6; no. 3-4; pp. 119 - 132
• Main Authors: Keller, M. A., Kloker, M. J., Kirilovskiy, S. V., Polivanov, P. A., Sidorenko, A. A., Maslov, A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.12.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Boundaries; Engineering; Flow control; Fluid flow; Heating; Hypersonic flow; Mathematical models; Original Paper; Turbulence; Turbulent flow; Flow control; Hypersonic flow; Boundary layers; Volume heating; Roughness; Laminar-turbulent transition
• ISSN: 1868-2502; 1868-2510
• DOI: 10.1007/s12567-014-0064-y

Boundary-layer flow control is a prerequisite for a safe and efficient operation of future hypersonic transport systems. Here, the influence of an electric discharge—modeled by a heat-source term in the energy equation—on laminar boundary-layer flows over a flat plate with zero pressure gradient at Mach 3, 5, and 7 is investigated numerically. The aim was to appraise the potential of electro-gasdynamic devices for an application as turbulence generators in the super- and hypersonic flow regime. The results with localized heat-source elements in boundary layers are compared to cases with roughness elements serving as classical passive trips. The numerical simulations are performed using the commercial code ANSYS FLUENT (by ITAM) and the high-order finite-difference DNS code NS3D (by IAG), the latter allowing for the detailed analysis of laminar flow instability. For the investigated setups with steady heating, transition to turbulence is not observed, due to the Reynolds-number lowering effect of heating.