Effect of local wall temperature on hypersonic boundary layer stability and transition

Wall temperature significantly affects stability and receptivity of the boundary layer. Changing the wall temperature locally may therefore be an effective laminar flow control technique. However, the situation is complicated when the wall temperature distribution is nonuniform, and researchers have experimentally found that local wall cooling may delay the onset of transition. We attempt to clarify the physical mechanisms whereby the local wall temperature affects the transition and the stability of a hypersonic boundary layer. A numerical investigation of the disturbance evolution in a Mach-6 sharp cone boundary layer with local wall heating or cooling is conducted. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is performed for the single-frequency and broadband disturbance evolution caused by random forcing. We vary the local wall temperature and the location of heating/cooling, and then use the e N method to estimate the transition onset. Our results show that local wall cooling amplifies high-frequency unstable waves while stabilizing low-frequency unstable waves, with local heating amplifying all unstable waves locally. The disturbance amplitude and second-mode peak frequency obtained by DNS agree well with the previous experimental results. Local cooling/heating has a dual effect on the stability of the hypersonic boundary layer. For local cooling, while it effectively inhibits the growth of the low-frequency unstable waves that dominate the transition downstream, it also further destabilizes the downstream flow. In addition, while upstream cooling can delay the transition, excessive cooling may promote it; local heating always slightly promotes the transition. Finally, recommendations are given for practical engineering applications based on the present results.