An Experimental Investigation of Wall-Cooling Effects on Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Stability in a Quiet Wind Tunnel

Book excerpt: One of the primary reasons for developing quiet tunnels is for the investigation of high-speed boundary-layer stability and transition phenomena without the transition-promoting effects of acoustic radiation from tunnel walls. In this experiment, a flared-cone model under adiabatic- and cooled-wall conditions was placed in a calibrated, "quiet" Mach 6 flow and the stability of the boundary layer was investigated using a prototype constant-voltage anemometer. The results of this experiment were compared with linear-stability theory predictions and good agreement was found in the prediction of second-mode frequencies and growth. In addition, the same "N = 10" criterion used to predict boundary-layer transition in subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flows was found to be applicable for the hypersonic flow regime as well. Under cooled-wall conditions, a unique set of continuous spectra data was acquired that documents the linear, nonlinear, and breakdown regions associated with the transition of hypersonic flow under low-noise conditions