High frequency surface heat flux imaging of bypass transition

A high-frequency surface heat flux imaging technique was used to investigate bypass transition induced by freestream turbulence. Fundamental experiments were carried out at the University of Oxford using high-density thin film arrays on a flat plate wind tunnel model. Bypass transition was induced by grid-generated turbulence with varying intensities of 2.3%, 4.2%, and 17% with a fixed integral length scale of approximately 12 mm. Unique high resolution temporal heat flux images are shown which detail significant differences between unsteady surface heat flux events induced by freestream turbulence and the classical Emmons-type spots which many turbomachinery transition models are based on. The temporal imaging technique presented allows study of unsteady surface heat transfer in detail, and helps elucidate the complex nature of transition in the high-disturbance environment of turbomachinery.