Self-sustained shock oscillations on airfoils at transonic speeds

Self-sustained shock wave oscillations on airfoils at transonic flow conditions are associated with the phenomenon of buffeting. The physical mechanisms of the periodic shock motion are not yet fully understood even though experiments performed over fifty years ago have demonstrated the presence of oscillatory shock waves on the airfoil surfaces at high subsonic speeds. The unsteady pressure fluctuations generated by the low-frequency large-amplitude shock motions are highly undesirable from the structural integrity and aircraft maneuverability point of view. For modern supercritical wing design with thick profiles, the shock-induced fluctuations are particularly severe and methods to reduce the shock wave amplitudes to lower values or even to delay the oscillations to higher Mach numbers or incidence angles will result in expanding the buffet boundary of the airfoil. This review begins with a recapitulation of the classical work on shock-induced bubble separation and trailing edge separation of a turbulent boundary layer. The characteristics of the unsteady pressure fluctuations are used to classify the types of shock-boundary layer interaction. The various modes of shock wave motion for different flow conditions and airfoil configurations are described. The buffet boundaries obtained using the standard trailing edge pressure divergence technique and an alternative approach of measuring the divergence of normal fluctuating forces are compared to show the equivalence. The mechanisms of self-sustained shock oscillations are discussed for symmetrical circular-arc airfoils at zero incidence and for supercritical airfoils at high incidence angles with fully separated flows. The properties of disturbances in the wake are examined from linear stability analysis of two-dimensional compressible flows. The advances in high-speed computing make predictions of buffeting flows possible. Navier–Stokes solvers and approximate boundary layer-inviscid flow interaction methods are shown to give good correlation of frequencies and other unsteady flow characteristics with experiments. Finally, passive and active methods of shock oscillation control show promising results in delaying buffet onset to higher Mach numbers or incidence angles, thus enhancing the transonic performance of airfoils.