Experimental analysis of suction on step-induced boundary-layer transition

Abstract The influence of suction on step-induced boundary-layer transition has been experimentally investigated in the Cryogenic Ludwieg-Tube Goettingen at large chord Reynolds numbers (up to 16 · 10 6 ), Mach numbers from 0.35 to 0.77 and various streamwise pressure gradients by means of temperature-sensitive paint. Surface imperfections, implemented as combination of gap and forward-facing step, caused transition to occur at a location more upstream than in the case of a smooth surface (i.e. without gap and step). For this combination of imperfections, it was demonstrated for the first time in experiments that suction, achieved passively by exploiting the pressure difference between upper and lower side of the model, induced a movement of transition to a more downstream location than without suction, and in most cases even more downstream than on the smooth configuration at the same test conditions. Thus, the effect of suction was to even overcompensate the adverse effect of the combination of gap and forward-facing step on boundary-layer transition for the investigated test conditions.