Numerical prediction of the formation of Goertler vortices on a concave surface with suction and blowing

This paper presents a numerical prediction of the formation of Goertler vor tices on a concave surface with suction and blowing. Suction stabilizes the boundary layer flow on the surface, whereas blowing destabilizes the flow. The criterion on the position marking the onset of Goertler vortices is de fined in the present paper. For facilitating the numerical study, the compu tation is carried out in the transformed x-eta plane. The results show that the onset position characterized by the Goertler number depends on the loc al suction/blowing parameter, the Prandtl number and the wavenumber. The va lue of the critical Goertler number increases with the increase in suction, while the value of the Goertler number decreases with the increase in blow ing. Both the experimental and the numerical data can be correlated by G(th eta)* = 10.2(a'theta)*(3/2) without suction and blowing and by a simple rel ation G(x)* = (G(x)*)(y=0)e(-gamma) with suction and blowing. The obtained critical Goertler number and wavenumber are in good agreement with the prev ious experimental data. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.