High-Speed Boundary-Layer Stability on a Cone with Localized Wall Heating or Cooling

A localized heating or cooling effect on stability of the boundary-layer flow on a sharp cone at zero angle of attack and freestream Mach number 6 is analyzed. Experiments were carried out in the Transit-M wind tunnel of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (Novosibirsk, Russia) for different heating/cooling intensities and freestream Reynolds numbers. The mean flows with localized heating/cooling are calculated using axisymmetric Navier–Stokes equations. These solutions are used for the spatial linear stability analysis to estimate the transition onset points using the method. Direct numerical simulations of two-dimensional disturbances propagating in the boundary layer through the cooled/heated region are performed. The experiment and computations showed similar qualitative trends. The localized cooling decreases the second-mode amplitude and delays transition. The heating produced an opposite effect, which is less pronounced.