Influence of the curvature variations on the thermal boundary layer transition

Larissa Ferreira Marques¹; Josuel Kruppa Rogenski¹; Leandro Franco de Souza¹

¹ ICMC/USP

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1709

Resumo

The centrifugal instability mechanism for boundary layers over concave surfaces may be responsible for the formation of streamwise vortices known as Gortler vortices. These vortices distort both the hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layer profiles by creating two characteristic regions: the upwash region where low velocity fluid is pushed away from the wall and the downwash region, where the opposite occurs. Spatial Direct Numerical Simulation experiments are here conducted to analyze the influence of the curvature variations on the thermal boundary layer transition. Concave, convex and flat plate configurations are considered. Results provide evidence that one may effectively control heat transfer rates by changing the curvature.

Palavras-chave: boundary layers; Gortler vortices; curvature variations; heat transfer; laminar-turbulent transition