Estimating mean profiles and fluxes in high-speed turbulent boundary layers using inner/outer-layer transformations

Abstract: Accurately predicting drag and heat transfer for compressible high-speed flows is of utmost importance for a range of engineering applications. This requires the precise knowledge of the entire velocity and temperature profiles. A common approach is to use compressible velocity scaling laws (transformation), that inverse transform the velocity profile of an incompressible flow, together with a temperature-velocity relation. In this Note, we use distinct velocity transformations for the inner and outer layers. In the inner layer, we utilize a recently proposed scaling law that appropriately incorporates variable property and intrinsic compressibility effects, while the outer layer profile is inverse-transformed with the well-known Van Driest transformation. The result is an analytical expression for the mean shear valid in the entire boundary layer, which combined with a temperature-velocity relationship, provides predictions of mean velocity and temperature profiles at unprecedented accuracy. Using these profiles, drag and heat transfer is evaluated with an accuracy of +/-4% and +/-8%, respectively, for a wide range of compressible turbulent boundary layers up to Mach numbers of 14.