AN APPLICATION OF THE VON KARMAN-MILLIKAN LAMINAR BOUNDARY-LAYER THEORY AND COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENT
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The flow laws of the actual flows at high Reynolds numbers differ considerably from those of the laminar flows treated in the preceding part. These actual flows show a special characteristic, denoted as turbulence. The character of a turbulent flow is most easily understood the case of the pipe flow. Consider the flow through a straight pipe of circular cross section and with a smooth wall. For laminar flow each fluid particle moves with uniform velocity along a rectilinear path. Because of viscosity, the velocity of the particles near the wall is smaller than that of the particles at the center. i% order to maintain the motion, a pressure decrease is required which, for laminar flow, is proportional to the first power of the mean flow velocity. Actually, however, one ob~erves that, for larger Reynolds numbers, the pressure drop increases almost with the square of the velocity and is very much larger then that given by the Hagen Poiseuille law. One may conclude that the actual flow is very different from that of the Poiseuille flow.
Algorithms are developed to extract atmospheric boundary layer profiles for turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) and energy dissipation rate (EDR), with data from a meteorological tower as input. The profiles are based on similarity theory and scalings for the atmospheric boundary layer. The calculated profiles of EDR and TKE are required to match the observed values at 5 and 40 m. The algorithms are coded for operational use and yield plausible profiles over the diurnal variation of the atmospheric boundary layer.
The characteristics of turbulent shear layers in turbomachines are compared with the turbulent boundary layers on airfoils. Seven different aspects are examined. The limits of boundary layer theory are investigated. Boundary layer prediction methods are applied to analysis of the flow in turbomachines.
Increased understanding in recent years of boundary layer transition has been made possible by the development of strongly nonlinear stability theories. After some twenty or so years when nonlinear stability theory was restricted to the application of the Stuart-Watson method (or less formal amplitude expansion procedures), there now exist strongly nonlinear theories which can describe processes which have an 0(1) effect on the basic state. These strongly nonlinear theories and their possible role in pushing theoretical understanding of transition ever further into the nonlinear regime are discussed.
The fundamentals of stability theory, its chief results, and the physical mechanisms at work are presented. The stability theory of the laminar boundary determines whether a small disturbance introduced into the boundary layer will amplify or damp. If the disturbance damps, the boundary layer remains laminar. If the disturbance amplifies, and by a sufficient amount, then transition to turbulence eventually takes place. The stability theory establishes those states of the boundary layer which are most likely to lead to transition, identifys those frequencies which are the most dangerous, and indicates how the external parameters can best be changed to avoid transition.
The lobe and the plasma sheet boundary layer in the earth's magnetotail are regions of different plasma conditions and share a common interface. The transition from the lobe to the plasma sheet boundary layer is examined here using AMPTE/IRM data. When the satellite crossed from the lobe to the plasma sheet boundary layer, intense narrow-banded wave bursts at 1 kHz were observed and broadband electrostatic noise (BEN) immediately followed. Simultaneous with the onset of BEN, high energy earthward streaming proton beams at more than 40 keV (more than 2700 km/s) were detected. These results are used as input into a numerical simulation to study ion beam instabilities in the PSBL.
Aerodynamic flutter and a re-written computer program for its study are discussed. Data cover: (1) lifting surface theory with boundary layer, (2) incompressible, two dimensional, unsteady flow with control surfaces, (3) improved unsteady theory, (4) combined transonic airfoil thickness and shear layer thickness effects, and (5) bending-torsion flutter calculations.
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According to one of the main propositions of the boundary layer theory the scarcely noticeable boundary layer may, under certain conditions, have a decisive influence on the form of the external flow by causing it to separate from the wing surface. These phenomena are known to be caused by a kind of stagnation of the boundary layer at the point of separation. The present report deals with similar phenomena. It is important to note that usually the cause (external interference) directly affects only the layer close to the wall, while its indirect effect extends to a large portion of the external flow.
Most fluid flows are turbulent rather than laminar and the reason for this was studied. One of the earliest explanations was that laminar flow is unstable, and the linear instability theory was first developed to explore this possibility. A series of early papers by Rayleigh produced many notable results concerning the instability of inviscid flows, such as the discovery of inflectional instability. Viscosity was commonly thought to act only to stabilize the flow, and flows with convex velocity profiles appeared to be stable. The investigations that led to a viscous theory of boundary layer instability was reported. The earliest application of linear stability theory to transition prediction calculated the amplitude ratio of the most amplified frequency as a function of Reynolds number for a Blasius boundary layer, and found that this quantity had values between five and nine at the observed Ret. The experiment of Schubauer and Skramstad (1947) completely reversed the prevailing option and fully vindicated the Gottingen proponents of the theory. This experiment demonstrated the existence of instability waves in a boundary layer, their connection with transition, and the quantitative description of their behavior by the theory of Tollmien and Schlichting. It is generally accepted that flow parameters such as pressure gradient, suction and heat transfer qualitatively affect transition in the manner predicted by the linear theory, and in particular that a flow predicted to be stable by the theory should remain laminar. The linear theory, in the form of the e9, or N-factor is today in routine use in engineering studies of laminar flow. The stability theory to boundary layers with pressure gradients and suction was applied. The only large body of numerical results for exact boundary layer solutions before the advent of the computer age by calculating the stability characteristics of the Falkner-Skan family of velocity profiles are given. When the digital computer reached a stage of development which permit the direct solution of the primary differential equations, numerical results were obtained from the linear theory during the next 10 years for many different boundary layer flows: three dimensional boundary layers; free convention boundary layers; compressible boundary layers; boundary layers on compliant walls; a recomputation of Falkner-Skan flows; unsteady boundary layers; and heated wall boundary layers.
Massive separation on airfoils operating at high Reynolds number is an important problem to the aerodynamicist, since its onset generally determines the limiting performance of an airfoil, and it can lead to serious problems related to aircraft control as well as turbomachinery operation. The phenomenon of crossover between local separation and massive separation on realistic airfoil geometries induced by airfoil thickness is investigated for low speed (incompressible) flow. The problem is studied both for the asymptotic limit of infinite Reynolds number using triple-deck theory, and for finite Reynolds number using interacting boundary-layer theory. Numerical results are presented which follow the evolution of the flow as it develops from a mildly separated state to one dominated by the massively separated flow structure as the thickness of the airfoil geometry is systematically increased. The effect of turbulence upon the evolution of the flow is considered, and the impact is significant, with the principal effect being the suppression of the onset of separation. Finally, the effect of surface suction and injection for boundary-layer control is considered. The approach which was developed provides a valuable tool for the analysis of boundary-layer separation up to and beyond stall. Another important conclusion is that interacting boundary-layer theory provides an efficient tool for the analysis of the effect of turbulence and boundary-layer control upon separated vicsous flow.
Past work on the influence of Mach number on the viscous and inviscid instability of flat-plate boundary layers is reviewed, and new spatial calculations are presented. These calculations support the previous view that viscosity is only stabilizing for both two- and three-dimensional first-mode waves above M1 = 3.0, and for second-mode waves at all Mach numbers. It is concluded that the calculations of Wazzan, Taghavi, and Keltner that show viscous instability at M1 = 6.0 for first-mode 50 deg waves, and at M1 = 3.0 for two-dimensional second-mode waves, are not correct.
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A method has recently been developed for calculating the flow over a subsonic nacelle at zero angle of attack. The method makes use of annular wing theory and boundary-layer theory and has shown good agreement with both experimental data and more complex theoretical solutions. The method permits variation of the mass flow by changing the size of a center body.
Surface pressure and heat transfer, flow separation, flow field, and oil flow patterns on the leeward side of a space shuttle orbiter model are investigated at a free stream Mach number of 6. The free stream Reynolds numbers are between 1.64 times 10 to the 7th power and 1.31 times 10 to the 8th power per meter, and the angle of attack is varied between 0 deg and 40 deg for the present experiments. The stagnation temperatures for the tests are approximately 500 K and the wall temperature is maintained at 290 K. Existing numerical methods of three-dimensional inviscid supersonic flow theory and compressible boundary layer theory are used to predict the present experimental measurements. Results of the present tests indicate two distinct types of flow separation and surface peak heating depending on the angle of attack.
Researchers show how an initially linear spanwise disturbance in the free stream velocity field is amplified by leading edge bluntness effects and ultimately leads to a small amplitude but linear spanwise motion far downstream from the edge. This spanwise motion is imposed on the boundary layer flow and ultimately causes an order-one change in its profile shape. The modified profiles are highly unstable and can support Tollmein-Schlichting wave growth well upstream of the theoretical lower branch of the neutral stability curve for a Blasius boundary layer.
A kinetic theory is presented for boundary layers associated with MHD tangential 'discontinuities' in a collisionless magnetized plasma, such as those observed in the solar wind. The theory consists of finding self-consistent solutions of Vlasov's equation and Maxwell's equation for stationary one-dimensional boundary layers separating two Maxwellian plasma states. Layers in which the current is carried by electrons are found to have a thickness of the order of a few electron gyroradii, but the drift speed of the current-carrying electrons is found to exceed the Alfven speed, and accordingly such layers are not stable. Several types of layers in which the current is carried by protons are discussed; in particular, cases are considered in which the magnetic-field intensity, direction, or both, changed across the layer. In every case, the thickness was of the order of a few proton gyroradii, and the field changed smoothly, although the characteristics depended somewhat on the boundary conditions. The drift speed was always less than the Alfven speed, consistent with stability of such structures. These results are consistent with observations of boundary layers in the solar wind near 1 AU.