Effect of leading edge geometry on boundary layer transition-an experimental approach

Boundary layers are affected by a number of different factors. Transition of the boundary layer is very sensitive to changes in geometry, velocity and turbulence levels. An understanding of the flow characteristics over a flat plate subjected to changes in geometry, velocity and turbulence is essential to try and understand boundary layer transition. Experiments were conducted in Low Turbulence wind tunnel (LTWT) at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU), China to understand the effects due to changes in geometric profiles on boundary layer transition. The leading edge of the flat plate was changed and several different configurations ranging from Aspect Ratio (AR) 1 to 12 were used. Turbulence level was kept constant at 0.02% and the velocity was kept at default value of 30 m/s. The results indicated that as the AR increases, boundary layer thickness reduces at the same location along the plate. The displacement thickness shows that the fluctuations increase with an increase with AR which denotes the effect of leading edge on turbulence spot's production. For AR≥4, an increase in AR led to an elongation of the transition zone and a delay in transition onset.