Influence of roughness-generated streaks on laminar separation bubbles

Abstract

This experimental investigation studies the impact of streaks on two-dimensional laminar separation bubbles forming over an aerofoil. Streaks are introduced into the boundary layer using cylindrical roughness elements, and the resulting mean and unsteady flow fields are measured using hotwire anemometry. The observed streaks generated by roughness exhibit analogous behaviour to those generated by freestream turbulence, significantly altering the mean flow characteristics of the bubble, including reductions in its length, height, and the introduction of spanwise velocity gradients. These mean flow modifications have a damping effect on convective disturbance growth. The experiments suggest the coexistence of modal instability due to the laminar separation bubble and transient growth due to streaks. To investigate the combined effect of roughness and the presence of freestream turbulence, we increase the turbulence level from the baseline in the presence of a roughness forcing configuration. We find that increasing the turbulence intensity leads to an enhancement of transient growth, accompanied by distinctive chordwise disturbance growth compared to lower freestream turbulence intensity levels.