Changes in the Transition Process of Roughness-Induced Crossflow Vortices due to Freestream Turbulence

Abstract Laminar-turbulent transitions in boundary layers are one of the major research topics in fluid dynamics. In this study, we focused on a three-dimensional boundary layer formed on a swept flat plate. In this boundary layer, the crossflow instability is dominant, and the instability induces crossflow vortices (CFVs). Many studies have focused on the dependency of the transition process on the intensities of steady or unsteady disturbances, which correspond to a roughness element and freestream turbulence (FST), respectively. On the other hand, the effects of the FST wavelength are still unclear. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge about the transition processes caused by both steady and unsteady disturbances. We investigated how the transition process of a stationary structure caused by cylindrical roughness changes depending on the FST wavelength using direct numerical simulations. We classified transition processes into two types: processes in which stationary structures grow into CFVs and processes in which hairpin vortices are generated on the stationary structures. The former is further classified into four types depending on the presence or absence of FST and on the FST wavelength. We revealed the contributions of different FST wavelengths to the transition process changes. The short-wavelength FST provides hairpin vortices to the stationary structure at low roughness height conditions because of its high-frequency components. The long-wavelength FST changes the process due to unsteady fluctuations influencing the stationary structure. In summary, the transition processes undergo different mechanisms between short- and long-wavelength FST.