The control of flow separation by periodic excitation

This article reviews linear instability analysis of flows over or through complex two-dimensional (2D) and 3D geometries. In the three decades since it first appeared in the literature, global instability analysis, based on the solution of the multidimensional eigenvalue and/or initial value problem, is continuously broadening both in scope and in depth. To date it has dealt successfully with a wide range of applications arising in aerospace engineering, physiological flows, food processing, and nuclear-reactor safety. In recent years, nonmodal analysis has complemented the more traditional modal approach and increased knowledge of flow instability physics. Recent highlights delivered by the application of either modal or nonmodal global analysis are briefly discussed. A conscious effort is made to demystify both the tools currently utilized and the jargon employed to describe them, demonstrating the simplicity of the analysis. Hopefully this will provide new impulses for the creation of next-generation algorithms capable of coping with the main open research areas in which step-change progress can be expected by the application of the theory: instability analysis of fully inhomogeneous, 3D flows and control thereof.

Global Linear Instability

This article reviews stability and laminar-turbulent transition in high-speed boundary-layer flows, emphasizing qualitative features of the disturbance spectrum leading to new mechanisms of receptivity and instability. It is shown that the extension of subsonic and low-supersonic stability concepts and transition prediction methods to hypersonic speeds is not straightforward. The discussion focuses on theoretical models providing insights into the physics of instability and helping make proper decisions on transition control strategies.

Transition and Stability of High-Speed Boundary Layers

Advances in global linear instability analysis of nonparallel and three-dimensional flows

Three-dimensional travelling wave solutions are found for pressure-driven fluid flow through a circular pipe. They consist of three well-defined flow features – streamwise rolls and streaks which dominate and streamwise-dependent wavy structures. The travelling waves can be classified by the and traceable down to a Reynolds number (based on the mean velocity) of 1251. The new solutions are found using a constructive continuation procedure based upon key physical mechanisms thought generic to wall-bounded shear flows. It is believed that the appearance of these new alternative solutions to the governing equations as the Reynolds number is increased is a necessary precursor to the turbulent transition observed in experiments.

Exact coherent structures in pipe flow: travelling wave solutions

A spatial theory is proposed for the linear transient growth of disturbances in a parallel boundary layer. Following from the consideration of a signaling problem, the spatial development of disturbances downstream of a source may be presented as a sum of decaying eigenmodes and Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) like instability modes. Therefore, the problem of optimal disturbances may be considered as an initial value problem on the subset of the decaying eigenmodes and a TS wave, and a standard optimization procedure may be applied for evaluation of the optimal transient growth. The results indicate that the most significant transient growth is associated with stationary streamwise vortices. Numerical examples illustrate that favorable pressure gradient decreases the overall amplification. Effects of compressibility and the wall cooling are investigated as well.

Spatial theory of optimal disturbances in boundary layers

Surface roughness can have a profound effect on boundary-layer transition. However, the mechanisms responsible for transition with three-dimensional distributed roughness have been elusive. Various Tollmien-Schlichting-based mechanisms have been investigated in the past but have been shown not to be applicable. More recently, the applicability of transient growth theory to roughness-induced transition has been studied. A model for roughness-induced transition is developed that makes use of computational results based on the spatial transient growth theory pioneered by the present authors. For nosetip transition, the resulting transition relations reproduce the trends of the Reda and passive nosetip technology (PANT) data and account for the separate roles of roughness and surface temperature level on the transition behavior

Role of Transient Growth in Roughness-Induced Transition

The discrete spectrum of disturbances in high-speed boundary layers is discussed with emphasis on singularities caused by synchronization of the normal modes. Numerical examples illustrate different spectral structures and jumps from one structure to another with small variations of basic flow parameters. It is shown that this singular behavior is due to branching of the dispersion curves in the synchronization region. Depending on the locations of the branch points, the spectrum contains an unstable mode or two. In connection with this, the terminology used for instability of high-speed boundary layers is clarified. It is emphasized that the spectrum branching may cause difficulties in stability analyses based on traditional linear stability theory and parabolized stability equations methods. Multiple-mode considerations and direct numerical simulations are needed to clarify this issue.

High-Speed Boundary-Layer Instability: Old Terminology and a New Framework

Three-dimensional spatially growing perturbations in a two-dimensional compressible boundary layer are considered within the scope of linearized Navier{Stokes equations. The Cauchy problem is solved under the assumption of a flnite growth rate of the disturbances. It is shown that the solution can be presented as an expansion into a biorthogonal eigenfunction system. The result can be utilized for decomposition of ∞ow flelds derived from computational studies when pressure, temperature, and all the velocity components, together with some of their derivatives, are available. The method can be used also if partial data are available when a priori information may be utilized in the decomposition alogorithm. Properties of the discrete spectrum for a boundary layer over a cone with an adiabatic wall at the edge Mach number 5.6 is explored. It is shown that the synchronism of the slow discrete mode with acoustic waves at a low frequency or a low Reynolds number is primarily two-dimensional. At high angles of disturbance propagation, the fast discrete mode is no longer synchronized with entropy and vorticity modes.

Three-dimensional spatial normal modes in compressible boundary layers

Three-dimensional spatially growing perturbations in a two-dimensional incompressible boundary layer are considered within the scope of linearized Navier–Stokes equations. The Cauchy problem is solved under the assumption of a finite growth rate of the disturbances. It is shown that the solution can be presented as an expansion into a biorthogonal eigenfunction system. The result can be utilized for decomposition of flow fields derived from computational studies when pressure and all velocity components, together with their derivatives, are available. The method can be used also in a case where partial data are available when a priori information leads to consideration of a finite number of modes. In the case of a continuous spectrum, the problem of decomposition based on partial information is ill-posed, but the method might be applied under additional assumptions about the perturbations.

Anatoli Tumin

Papers

Spatial theory of optimal disturbances in boundary layers

Role of Transient Growth in Roughness-Induced Transition

High-Speed Boundary-Layer Instability: Old Terminology and a New Framework

Three-dimensional spatial normal modes in compressible boundary layers

Multimode decomposition of spatially growing perturbations in a two-dimensional boundary layer