Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
201,642 studies31 sourcesUpdated 14 min ago
PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv

Turbulence at an aerofoil leading edge: the linearity boundary and its generation mechanism

  • Sparsh Sharma
  • Malav Soni
  • Alexandre Suryadi
  • Michaela Herr
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Turbulence approaching an aerofoil leading edge is strained and blocked in the final few nose radii. Rapid-distortion theory assumes that the pre-impact field is a linear image of the upstream turbulence; we test that assumption directly. Grid turbulence is computed over a NACA~0012 aerofoil and sampled on three congruent surfaces around the nose, giving the cross-spectral tensor between upstream and pre-impact stations. Relative to a no-aerofoil control, the linearity spectrum falls by a factor of three already at the energy-containing scales (κ= k rLE ≈ 0.3), showing that a substantial part of the pre-impact turbulence is generated locally rather than inherited. The same location appears in physical space: the anisotropy invariant IIIb changes sign from prolate to oblate within the last few per cent of chord, departing the plane-strain rapid-distortion prediction. The change is produced by pressure--strain redistribution, which drains the strain-amplified wall-normal stress into the other components; the term is absent in the control and becomes active once the accumulated strain is rapid. Across a fourteen-fold range of nose radius the sign change occurs at x ≈ −1.5 rLE and the generated turbulence is spanwise-dominated. At second order the mapping remains usable: when inserted into a standard Amiet prediction it improves agreement with measured leading-edge noise, and the same coefficients transfer to independent published cases when only nose radius and free-stream speed are supplied.

Related

  1. Scaling of boundary-layer disturbances exposed to free-stream turbulence
    Pierre Ricco
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textFluid dynamicsarXiv
  2. Physical mechanism of turbulence attenuation by polymers from a timescale perspective
    Hayato Masuda, Yusuke Koide, Yutaro Motoori +1
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textCondensed matterFluid dynamicsarXiv
  3. Two-fluid boundary turbulence simulations in reversed field pinch plasmas
    M. Giacomin, B. Momo, I. Predebon +2
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textPlasma physicsarXiv
  4. Stages of turbulence generation and decay in a T-shaped mixer
    Mohammad Mehdi Zamani Asl, Marc Avila
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textFluid dynamicsarXiv
  5. Interscale energy transfer in a propeller-driven homogeneous and isotropic turbulence generation device
    Luciano Hergenreder, Serge Simoëns, Cristián Escauriaza +1
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textFluid dynamicsarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{sharma2026turbulence,
  title = {{Turbulence at an aerofoil leading edge: the linearity boundary and its generation mechanism}},
  author = {Sparsh Sharma and Malav Soni and Alexandre Suryadi and Michaela Herr},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.16709},
  eprint = {2609.16709},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16709},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Turbulence at an aerofoil leading edge: the linearity boundary and its generation mechanism
AU  - Sparsh Sharma
AU  - Malav Soni
AU  - Alexandre Suryadi
AU  - Michaela Herr
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.16709
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16709
AB  - Turbulence approaching an aerofoil leading edge is strained and blocked in the final few nose radii. Rapid-distortion theory assumes that the pre-impact field is a linear image of the upstream turbulence; we test that assumption directly. Grid turbulence is computed over a NACA~0012 aerofoil and sampled on three congruent surfaces around the nose, giving the cross-spectral tensor between upstream and pre-impact stations. Relative to a no-aerofoil control, the linearity spectrum falls by a factor of three already at the energy-containing scales (κ= k r_LE ≈ 0.3), showing that a substantial part of the pre-impact turbulence is generated locally rather than inherited. The same location appears in physical space: the anisotropy invariant III_b changes sign from prolate to oblate within the last few per cent of chord, departing the plane-strain rapid-distortion prediction. The change is produced by pressure--strain redistribution, which drains the strain-amplified wall-normal stress into the other components; the term is absent in the control and becomes active once the accumulated strain is rapid. Across a fourteen-fold range of nose radius the sign change occurs at x ≈ −1.5 r_LE and the generated turbulence is spanwise-dominated. At second order the mapping remains usable: when inserted into a standard Amiet prediction it improves agreement with measured leading-edge noise, and the same coefficients transfer to independent published cases when only nose radius and free-stream speed are supplied.
ER  -