Integral method for the calculation of incompressible two-dimensional transitional boundary layers

Abstract

The method proposed here considers the mean flow in the transition zone as a linear combination of the laminar and turbulent boundary layer in proportions determined by the transitional intermittency, the component flows being calculated by appropriate integral methods. The intermittency distribution adopted takes into account the possibility of subtransitions within the zone in the presence of strong pressure gradients. A new nondimensional spot formation rate, whose value depends on the pressure gradient, is utilized to estimate the extent of the transition zone. Onset location is determined by a correlation that takes into account freestream turbulence and facility-specific residual disturbances in test data. Extensive comparisons with available experimental results in strong pressure gradients show that the proposed method performs at least as well as differential models, in many cases better, and is always faster.