Influence of Damping of a Compliant Surface on Inviscid Instability of Overlying Incompressible Boundary Layer

The instability of an incompressible boundary layer on a compliant plate with respect to inviscid perturbations in the limit of high Reynolds numbers is analyzed using triple-deck theory. It is shown that unstable inviscid perturbations can exist only if the inertia and/or damping of the plate are taken into account. A twofold role of damping is revealed: it suppresses instability under certain conditions, while leading to its generation under other conditions.