Roughness-induced transition and turbulent wedge spreading

Boundary layer transition triggered by a discrete roughness element generates a turbulent wedge that spreads laterally as it proceeds downstream. The historical literature reports the spreading half angle is approximately 6\(^{\circ }\) in zero-pressure gradient flows regardless of Reynolds number and roughness shape. Recent simulations and experiments have sought to explain the lateral spreading mechanism and have observed high- and low-speed streaks along the flanks of the wedge that appear central to the spreading process. To better elucidate the roles of Reynolds number and of streaks, a naphthalene flow visualization survey and hotwire measurements are conducted over a wider range of Reynolds numbers and longer streamwise domain than previous experiments. The naphthalene results show that while the mean spreading angle is consistent with the historical literature, there may be a weak dependency on x-based Reynolds number, which emerges as a result of the large sample size of the survey. The distance between the roughness element and the wedge origin exhibits a clear trend with the roughness–height-based Reynolds number. The hotwire measurements explain that this difference originates from whether breakdown occurs first in the central lobe or flanking streaks of the turbulent wedge. This observation highlights different transition dynamics at play within the supercritical regime. In agreement with past experiments, the hotwire measurements reveal that breakdown occurs in the wall normal shear layer above low-speed streaks. Due to the elongated streamwise extent of this experiment, secondary streak dynamics are also uncovered. A high-speed streak is produced directly downstream of the initiating low-speed streak. Subsequently, a new low-speed streak is observed outboard of the previous high-speed streak. This self-sustaining process is the driving mechanism of turbulent wedge spreading.