Performance evaluation of different micro vortex generators in controlling a flare-induced shock–boundary layer interaction

Abstract

This study evaluates the ability of five micro vortex generator (MVG) geometries in attenuating the flow separation induced by an axisymmetric compression corner. Experimental and computational investigations were carried out at Mach 2 on a cone–cylinder–flare model, with a flow deflection angle of 24° at the cylinder/flare juncture. The MVG shapes considered were baseline ramp, trapezoidal ramp, split ramp, thick vanes and ramped vanes. A circumferential array of these MVGs having a device height (h) of 1.4 mm and an inter-device spacing of 10.5 mm (7.5 h) was introduced 50 mm upstream of the compression corner. Streamwise counter-rotating vortex pairs that originated from these devices created alternate bands of upwash and downwash regions in the incoming boundary layer, which resulted in suitable three-dimensional alterations of the separation region’s size. Furthermore, surface streamline visualizations showed that the vortices induced profound topological transformations in the separated flow structure. In the absence of MVGs, spectral analysis of the pressure signal obtained from the separation shock’s intermittent region revealed a relatively broadband dominant frequency range of 0.55 kHz–0.9 kHz. The MVGs did not cause any significant change in the dominant frequency, but made the bandwidth slightly narrower. Among the different MVG designs that were studied, the ramped vanes (RV) induced the most momentum augmentation in the near wall region and thereby caused the maximum downstream shift in the separation shock’s position.