Blunt fin-induced shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction

This paper presents results from an experimental study of blunt fin-induced shock wave/turbulent boundarylayer interaction. Semi-infinite fin models with hemicylindrical, unswept leading edges were tested in Mach 3, high Reynolds number, turbulent boundary layers. All tests were made under approximately adiabatic wall conditions. The program had two fundamental objectives. The first was to examine the spanwise development of the disturbed flowfield and to determine its dependence on the configuration geometry and incoming flow conditions. To achieve this, streamwise surface pressure distributions were measured in the region extending from the centerline to 110 fin diameters outboard. The second objective was to determine the vertical extent of the interaction on the fin. This was carried out using a fin model whose leading edge and side face were instrumented with pressure taps. The results show that, on the test surface near the fin and on the fin itself, the leading-edge diameter plays a dominant role in determining the interaction's scale and characteristics.