The laminar/turbulent transition of the flow developing on the LEA hypersonic vehicle forebody has been investigated numerically at ICARE-CNRS, France, and experimentally at ITAM-Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, for flight Mach numbers 4, 6 and 8, and for various wall thermal conditions. Calculations are based on the local, modal, linear stability theory coupled with the e~N method. Experiments investigate both natural and roughness-induced transition, using either Preston tubes in a blow-down wind tunnel or Temperature Sensitive Paint in a hot-shot wind tunnel. This paper summarizes the key points of these studies, the results obtained for wind-tunnel conditions, and the experience that has been gained. Some work in progress is also presented about the numerical simulation of natural transition using the Quasi-Gas Dynamic Equations, and about the Implicit Large Eddy Simulation of transition triggered by wall injection.
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