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Three-dimensional boundary-layer instability and separation induced by small-amplitude streamwise vorticity in the upstream flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

M. E. Goldstein
Affiliation:
NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH 44135, USA
S. J. Leib
Affiliation:
Sverdrup Technology, Inc., Lewis Research Center Group, Cleveland, OH 44135, USA

Abstract

We consider the effects of a small-amplitude, steady, streamwise vorticity field on the flow over an infinitely thin flat plate in an otherwise uniform stream. We show how the initially linear perturbation, ultimately leads to a small-amplitude but nonlinear cross-flow far downstream from the leading edge. This motion is imposed on the boundary-layer flow and eventually causes the boundary layer to separate. The streamwise velocity profiles within the boundary layer become inflexional in localized spanwise regions just upstream of the separation point. The flow in these regions is therefore susceptible to rapidly growing inviscid instabilities.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1993 Cambridge University Press

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