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A study of a turbulent boundary layer in stalled-airfoil-type flow conditions

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An Erratum to this article was published on 24 August 2006

Abstract

The experimental study of the turbulent boundary layer under external flow conditions similar to those found on the suction side of airfoils in trailing-edge post-stall conditions has been performed. Detailed boundary layer measurements were carried out with a PIV system and a two-sensor wall probe. They cover the region downstream of the suction peak where the boundary layer is subjected to a very strong adverse pressure gradient and has suffered from an abrupt transition from strong favorable to strong adverse pressure gradients. The experiments show that in spite of these severe conditions, the boundary layer is surprisingly able to recover a state of near-equilibrium before separating. In this near-equilibrium zone, the mean velocity defect and all the measured Reynolds stresses are self-similar (in the outer region) with respect to the outer scales δ and U e δ*/δ. The mean momentum balance indicates that for the upper half of the outer region, the advection terms dominate all the stress-gradient terms in the zone prior to separation. A large portion of the outer region has therefore become essentially an inertial flow zone where an approach toward equilibrium is expected.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from NSERC through its research grant programs is gratefully acknowledged by the authors. They also wish to thank Steve Julien and Antoine Venisse for their tremendous contributions during the preliminary phases of the research project. Thanks are also due to Annie Pageau who performed the measurements with the two-sensor wall probe and to Philippe Bélanger-Vincent who helped with the data processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada, G1K 7P4

    Yvan Maciel, Karl-Stéphane Rossignol & Jean Lemay

Authors
  1. Yvan Maciel
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  2. Karl-Stéphane Rossignol
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  3. Jean Lemay
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yvan Maciel.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00348-006-0197-7

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Maciel, Y., Rossignol, KS. & Lemay, J. A study of a turbulent boundary layer in stalled-airfoil-type flow conditions. Exp Fluids 41, 573–590 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-006-0182-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-006-0182-1

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