Occurrence of global instability in hypersonic compression corner flow

Abstract

Hypersonic flow over a two-dimensional compression corner with a Mach number of 7.7 and unit Reynolds number of 4.2 × 10⁶ m⁻¹ is numerically investigated. Special emphasis is given to the onset of global instability with respect to three-dimensional perturbations. Global stability analysis is performed for various ramp angles and wall temperatures. It is found that the shock-induced separated flow system becomes unstable when the ramp angle is beyond a certain value. The critical ramp angle increases slightly with the wall temperature, although the length of the separation region is significantly enlarged. The global instability is shown to be closely linked with the occurrence of secondary separation beneath the primary separation bubble. A criterion is established based on a scaled ramp angle defined in the triple-deck theory to predict the global stability boundary, which depends on the free-stream conditions and geometries only.