Direct numerical simulation of shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction in a swept compression ramp at Mach 6

Swept compression ramps widely exist in supersonic/hypersonic vehicles and have become a typical standard model for studying three-dimensional (3D) shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions (STBLIs). In this paper, we conduct a direct numerical simulation of swept compression ramp STBLI with a 34 degrees compression angle and a 45 degrees sweep angle at Mach 6 using a heterogeneous parallel finite difference solver. Benefitting from the powerful computing performance of the graphics processing unit, the computational grid number exceeds 5 x 10(6) with the spatiotemporal evolution data of hypersonic 3D STBLI obtained. The results show that the flow of the hypersonic swept compression ramp follows the quasi-conical symmetry. A supersonic crossflow with helical motion appears in the interaction region, and its velocity increases along the spanwise direction. Fluids from the high-energy-density region pass through the bow shock at the head of the main shock and crash into the wall downstream of the reattachment, resulting in the peaks in skin friction and heat flux. The peak friction and heating increase along the spanwise direction because of the spanwise variation in the shock wave inclination. In the interaction region, the unsteadiness is dominated by the mid-frequency motion, whereas the low-frequency large-scale motion is nearly absent. Two reasons for the lack of low-frequency unsteadiness are given: (1) The separation shock is significantly weaker than the reattachment shock and main shock; and (2) because of the supersonic crossflow, the perturbations propagating at the sound speed are not self-sustaining but flow along the r-direction and toward the spanwise boundary. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

This study investigated the shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions on a swept compression ramp in hypersonic flights through numerical simulation. Results showed the presence of supersonic crossflow in the interaction region, leading to peaks in skin friction and heat flux along the spanwise direction.