Effect of an isolated 3-D roughness element on the transition of Blasius boundary layer

Author(s)

Igor Braga de Paula

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2007-03-02

Examining board members

Marcello Augusto Faraco de Medeiros; José Augusto Penteado Aranha; Edith Beatriz Camaño Schettini; Fernando Martini Catalano; Oscar Mauricio Hernandez Rodriguez

• Advisor: Marcello Augusto Faraco de Medeiros

Abstract

The current thesis is devoted to a study of the effect of a shallow 3-D roughness element on the evolution of a 2-D Tollmien-Schlichting wave in a Blasius boundary layer. The experiments were carried out under controlled disturbance conditions on an airfoil section which could provide a long run with zero pressure gradient flow. A pneumatically driven slit source was used to introduce the T-S wave upstream of the lower branch of the neutral stability curve. A few wavelengths downstream, the T-S wave interacted with a cylindrical roughness element. The height of the roughness was slowly oscillating in time, which allowed a continuous measurement of the T-S wave response downstream of the roughness. The oscillation frequency was approximately 1500 times lower than the frequency of the Tollmien-Schlichting wave and therefore, behaved as a steady roughness with respect to the T-S wave. Hot wire anemometry was used to measure wall normal profiles of longitudinal velocity and spanwise scans close to the maximum of the eigenfunction of the T-S wave. The oscillation of the roughness and the synchronization of all equipments permitted the use of ensemble average techniques. The experimental results were compared with the boundary layer secondary instability theory. The analysis of the compared results suggests that the disturbances were amplified by a resonance mechanism known as K-type or fundamental. (AU)