Nonlinear dynamics involving multiple modes in high-speed transitional boundary layer

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Li, Xiao-Bai, Chen, Yifeng, Wen, Chihyung, Guo, Peixu
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Li, Xiao-Bai
Chen, Yifeng
Wen, Chihyung
Guo, Peixu
author_facet Li, Xiao-Bai
Chen, Yifeng
Wen, Chihyung
Guo, Peixu
contents Extensive studies have investigated the transition mechanism of boundary layers initiated by a single primary instability. In a real-world scenario, however, multiple primary instabilities of different physical nature would coexist and generate more complicated stages of mode--mode interactions. For this scenario, conventional secondary stability analysis may not be applicable. In this work, a general framework is established to decompose the input--output system and to quantify the transfer of energy involving various modes. The linearized governing equation with nonlinear forcings is applied in a Mach 6 boundary layer, where two different types of primary instabilities are added simultaneously. As the primary-wave amplitudes increase to certain threshold, the nonlinear effect causes the saturation of the second mode and secondary growth of the first mode. In the generation stage of each higher-order mode, a specific leading triadic forcing term can be identified. These higher-order waves manifest solely in response to the identified dominant forcing during their generation. At the moderate and late transitional stages, the forcings are, however, not equally transferred to the response via the resolvent operator. In other words, the base-flow-associated resolvent operator exerts different levels of `leverage' to transfer different forcings to responses. The nonlinear energy transfer via triadic forcings also drives the higher-order instability to inherit physical signature from the associated lower-order instability. Finally, the interplay between secondary/tertiary waves and primary waves occurs notably earlier then one may expect, namely before transition onset or in the early transitional region. This differs from the traditional secondary instability analysis that a large-amplitude primary wave is developed first to perform the bi-global analysis in the distorted base flow.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_16079
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nonlinear dynamics involving multiple modes in high-speed transitional boundary layer
Li, Xiao-Bai
Chen, Yifeng
Wen, Chihyung
Guo, Peixu
Fluid Dynamics
Extensive studies have investigated the transition mechanism of boundary layers initiated by a single primary instability. In a real-world scenario, however, multiple primary instabilities of different physical nature would coexist and generate more complicated stages of mode--mode interactions. For this scenario, conventional secondary stability analysis may not be applicable. In this work, a general framework is established to decompose the input--output system and to quantify the transfer of energy involving various modes. The linearized governing equation with nonlinear forcings is applied in a Mach 6 boundary layer, where two different types of primary instabilities are added simultaneously. As the primary-wave amplitudes increase to certain threshold, the nonlinear effect causes the saturation of the second mode and secondary growth of the first mode. In the generation stage of each higher-order mode, a specific leading triadic forcing term can be identified. These higher-order waves manifest solely in response to the identified dominant forcing during their generation. At the moderate and late transitional stages, the forcings are, however, not equally transferred to the response via the resolvent operator. In other words, the base-flow-associated resolvent operator exerts different levels of `leverage' to transfer different forcings to responses. The nonlinear energy transfer via triadic forcings also drives the higher-order instability to inherit physical signature from the associated lower-order instability. Finally, the interplay between secondary/tertiary waves and primary waves occurs notably earlier then one may expect, namely before transition onset or in the early transitional region. This differs from the traditional secondary instability analysis that a large-amplitude primary wave is developed first to perform the bi-global analysis in the distorted base flow.
title Nonlinear dynamics involving multiple modes in high-speed transitional boundary layer
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16079