Global instability in shock wave laminar boundary-layer interaction

Abstract

The linear global stability of an interaction between an oblique shock wave and a laminar boundary layer is carried out for various oblique shock angles. It is illustrated that such a flow acts as a noise amplifier. The least temporally damped global modes are classified into three main categories, low, medium and high frequencies. The high frequencies are localized into the attached boundary layer, the medium frequencies are associated with Kelvin–Helmholtz like structures along the shear layer and convective waves in the separated flow downstream whereas the low frequencies are driven by the interaction zone. In particular, a low frequency mode emerges which is scaled by the interaction length and the freestream velocity.