On transition in a separated laminar boundary layer

Abstract

This paper deals with the growth of small disturbances in a separated laminar boundary layer for high Reynolds numbers as a function of the dimensionless flow parameters. Using a hot-wire technique, the experiments show that spatially growing disturbances are only affected by the Strouhal number. Thus the basic equations of the process become relatively simple. The experiments show good agreement with theoretical results obtained by means of hydrodynamic stability theory for spatially growing disturbances.