Predicting Boundary Layer Transition on X-51A Forebody with kT-kL-(omega) Transition Model

Abstract

Boundary layer transition is of significance to the hypersonic aircrafts. In this paper, boundary layer transition on X-51A forebody is predicted with the kT-kL-(omega) transition model. An overview of the transition zone is depicted and the transition onset on the leeward is compared with the experiment result. The comparison demonstrates that for the complex hypersonic aircraft X-51A forebody, the kT-kL-(omega) transition model can reflect the effect of freestream Reynolds number on boundary layer transition, but under certain condition, there is still room to improve the accuracy of boundary layer transition onset prediction.