High-amplitude wall heat flux events in an impinging shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction

This study focuses on High-Amplitude Wall Heat Flux events (HAWHFs) occurring during the interaction between a supersonic flat-plate Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) at a Mach number of 2.25 and an oblique shock wave impinging at 33.2°. A database from a validated direct numerical simulation is analyzed using conditional averaging and a two-dimensional clustering methodology to elucidate the statistical characteristics of both positive and negative HAWHFs within the interaction region. The results reveal that the interaction considerably affects the temporal attributes of the HAWHFs, leading to an extended lifespan for the positive HAWHFs and an increased interval between the occurrences of negative HAWHFs. The structural characteristics of the identified HAWHFs are delineated based on the evolution of population density, aspect ratio, and both absolute and relative distances throughout the interaction. The joint probability density functions of the relative positioning of two adjacent structures indicate that, away from the reattachment point, the positive HAWHFs align in the spanwise direction, displaying similarities with the negative HAWHFs. Moreover, a conditional analysis of flow structures associated with HAWHFs is conducted. This analysis of the conditionally averaged three-dimensional fields reveals that the interaction fosters larger-scale organizational patterns in the downstream region. However, the formation of positive and negative HAWHFs remains largely unaffected by the interaction, with the former predominantly linked to a two-layer temperature structure and the latter primarily associated with a pair of oblique vortices.