Fluctuating Pressure Inside/Outside the Flow Separation Region in High Speed Flowfield

An experimental study was conducted on the interactions of shock wave/turbulence or laminar boundary layer caused by fin-type protuberance, as the lack of detailed understanding of fluctuating pressure loads inside and outside the laminar or turbulence boundary layer separation region in hypersonic flow. The changes of fluctuating pressure in separation region were focused on in this paper. The study shows that the existence of fin changes flowfiled on the plate significantly. The laminar boundary layer separation occurs earlier and the separation region is more extensive. Similar flow is observed between a couple of measurement points outside the laminar separation region. However, there are significant differences between the flow inside and outside the separation region. The level of fluctuating pressure of laminar boundary layer is smaller than that in turbulent case. Even so, in laminar case, the peak fluctuating pressure still reaches a high level. Therefore, the structural influence (damage and/or early fatigue) of fluctuating pressure loads caused by the laminar boundary layer separation should not be ignored.