Compressible stability of growing boundary layers using parabolized stability equations

Abstract

The parabolized stability equation (PSE) approach is employed to study linear and nonlinear compressible stability with an eye to providing a capability for boundary-layer transition prediction in both 'quiet' and 'disturbed' environments. The governing compressible stability equations are solved by a rational parabolizing approximation in the streamwise direction. Nonparallel flow effects are studied for both the first- and second-mode disturbances. For oblique waves of the first-mode type, the departure from the parallel results is more pronounced as compared to that for the two-dimensional waves. Results for the Mach 4.5 case show that flow nonparallelism has more influence on the first mode than on the second. The disturbance growth rate is shown to be a strong function of the wall-normal distance due to either flow nonparallelism or nonlinear interactions. The subharmonic and fundamental types of breakdown are found to be similar to the ones in incompressible boundary layers.