Linear and Nonlinear Disturbance Evolution on the Frustum of Hypersonic Ogive Cylinders

What is it about?

Transition to turbulence of a laminar flow is a vital aspect of hypersonic flight, since it substantially enhances drag and heat transfer. Modifying forebody shape has beneficial effects on surface heat load reduction, however, their transition behavior has not been examined in detail yet. The present work uses the Navier-Stokes equations with random forcing and wavepacket analysis techniques to provide insights into these transitional features, which are not easily accessible by experiments alone. The analysis shows that high-frequency second modes amplify the most, with peculiar spanwise variation at higher disturbance amplitudes.

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