Numerical study of hypersonic boundary layer transition on a blunt body

Highly resolved solutions of the flow over both sharp cone and blunt-nosed hypersonic bodies are found using computational fluid dynamics. Linear stability analysis is performed to analyze these flows for conditions which lead to amplification of naturally occuring disturbances in the boundary layer. Through comparison of the sharp cone and blunt body axisymmetric flows, the stabilizing effect of nose bluntness is demonstrated. For a geometry of interest, a threedimensional flow is solved, and a linear stability analysis is performed in a flow symmetry plane. The results of this analysis show that the boundary layer is stable, but that it is less stable than what is predicted by the axisymmetric solution. Finally, comparisons with the results of an experimental correlation are used to show that crossflow transition in the three-dimensional flow is unlikely.