Computational Study of Transition on a Flared Cone Using Random Forcing

Incorporating boundary layer transition prediction in the design of high speed vehicles is necessary to ensure safe and efficient operation. The heat transfer to the surface of the vehicle increases significantly when the boundary layer transitions from laminar to turbulent flow. To study boundary layer transition, DNS is needed to resolve the large range of length scales required to accurately model the nonlinear interactions that occur in the boundary layer. Furthermore, forcing is required to lead the flow to laminar-turbulent transition. In this study, randomly generated traveling plane waves are used to perturb the flow and promote transition. To more closely align with experiments, the amplitude vector of these plane waves is set as the freestream noise profiles of a wind tunnel. Using this approach, the DNS successfully achieved transition and resulted in similar findings as those in previous experimental and computational studies.