Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Transition Experiments in a Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel

The Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel has achieved quiet flow to stagnation pressures of 146 psia, and intermittently quiet flow between 146 and 169 psia. In an attempt to measure natural transition under quiet flow, a 3-m-circular-arc compression cone was tested with a nearly sharp nosetip. Using temperature-sensitive paint, hot streaks were observed to develop near the rear of the cone at high pressures under quiet flow. The streaks do not appear under noisy flow. The cause of the hot streaks remains unknown, though they may be instabilities or artifacts of nonlinear breakdown. Under quiet flow, the cone boundary layer remained laminar up to N factors of at least 15 and possibly as high as 19. Transition occurred at N = 9 under noisy flow. It is unknown why laminar flow persisted to such high N factors. As part of an investigation of crossflow vortices, a 7 half-angle cone was tested at 6 angle of attack with temperature-sensitive paint finishes of varying roughness. The roughness of the paint finish was observed to have an effect on crossflow vortices, in some cases inducing transition under noisy flow. Heat-transfer measurements were made at the stagnation point of a hemisphere to observe the effect of freestream noise; no effect was evident.

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