Brown Bag Seminar

Asymptotic stability of boundary layers in hypersonic chemically reacting mixtures subject to perturbations induced by thermal noise

When

1 p.m., Nov. 1, 2019

In fluid dynamics, the boundary layer is a thin region of fluid flow near fluid-solid interfaces where viscosity plays a significant role. These boundary layers can usually be categorized as being either smooth (laminar) or turbulent. The transition of this boundary layer from a laminar state to a turbulent state is generally not well understood yet nonetheless crucial in many engineering applications. This particular work is motivated by the need to predict the location of this boundary layer transition over the body of hypersonic aircrafts where the fluid flow is both hypersonic (moving over 5 times the speed of sound) and chemically reacting.  In this context, there has been recent interest in how the unavoidable thermal noise responsible for Brownian motion can play a role in the onset of turbulence for certain flight conditions. In this talk a brief introduction to boundary layer stability theory will be presented, a particular stability problem will be motivated and stated, this will then be followed by some results.