Interaction Between Compliant Structures and Boundary-Layer Transition in Hypersonic Flow

• Published in: AIAA journal 2017-08, Vol.55 (8), p.2645-2663
• Main Authors: Riley, Zachary B, McNamara, Jack J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerodynamic heating; Aerodynamic stability; Boundary conditions; Boundary layer transition; Bowing; Deformation; Flow control; Flow stability; Hypersonic flow; Hypersonic vehicles; Stability analysis; Surface stability
• ISSN: 0001-1452; 1533-385X
• DOI: 10.2514/1.J055521

The inherent relationship between boundary-layer stability, aerodynamic heating, and surface conditions makes the potential for interaction between the structural response and boundary-layer transition an important and challenging area of study in high-speed flows. This interdependence implies that accurate structural response prediction of a hypersonic vehicle necessitates an aerothermoelastic analysis that accounts for boundary-layer stability in regions where transition is likely to occur. This study focuses on this problem by coupling a time-varying boundary-layer state to the aerothermoelastic response of a structural panel in hypersonic flow. Results indicate that the structural response shifts the transition onset location upstream by more than a quarter of the panel length. The forward movement of the transition front is found to be strongly dependent on the panel deformation and is related to a region of adverse pressure resulting from the panel bowing into the flowfield. Additionally, the response of the panel with clamped structural boundary conditions is highly dependent on the transition onset location due to its sensitivity to the spatial variation in the thermal moment.