Porous Surface Design with Stability Analysis for Turbulent Transition Control in Hypersonic Boundary Layer

Abstract

This study presents a design approach for a uniform porous surface to control laminar-to-turbulent transition in hypersonic boundary layers. The focus is on suppressing the Mack second mode, which is a dominant instability in hypersonic boundary layers. The Mack second mode is acoustic-wave-like in the ultrasonic frequency range and can be effectively attenuated by porous surfaces. Previous studies have explored porous surfaces, either by targeting a specific frequency or by adopting geometrically complex configurations for various frequencies. In contrast, the present study proposes a porous surface design that effectively stabilizes the Mack second mode over a wide frequency range, while maintaining structural simplicity. In addition, this porous surface design incorporates constraints associated with practical fabrication to enhance manufacturability. The absorption characteristics of porous surfaces are evaluated with an acoustic impedance model, and the stabilization performance is assessed with linear stability theory. The proposed porous surface design is compared with a conventional design method that focuses on the Mack second mode with a single frequency. Consequently, the proposed design methodology demonstrates robust and consistent suppression of the Mack second mode in a broad frequency range. This approach improves both stabilization performance and manufacturability with a uniform porous surface, contributing to its practical application in high-speed vehicles.