Variation of vortical structures across shock-wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction region in a compression ramp flow

Abstract

This paper describes direct numerical simulations of a shock-wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction (STBLI) process in a compression-ramp flow with a ramp angle of 24° and a free-stream Mach number of Ma∞=2.9. Spectral analysis, two-point cross correlation, convection velocity statistics, and individual vortex identification are used to elucidate the streamwise variation of multiscale turbulent structures in the STBLI process. Typical Lagrangian coherent structures in the turbulent boundary layer before the STBLI region are characterized as hairpin-like vortical structures, with heads that rise together with the separated mean flow in the STBLI region. In the downstream region, the reattached turbulent boundary layer has a two-layer structure. The outer layer is characterized as an intensification of large-scale velocity structures, which is attributed to the shock-wave-induced compression effect on vortical structures. A viscous-dominated layer develops independently in the vicinity of the wall, leading to a gradual restoration of the wall-shear effect that accumulates the inner-layer dynamics of small-to-moderate-scale turbulent motions.