High-Speed PIV of shock boundary layer interactions in the transonic buffet flow of a compressor cascade

The dynamics of a transonic buffet flow on the suction side of a highly loaded 2-D compressor blade model is investigated at a chord-based Reynolds number of 1.4 × 10 6 and an inlet Mach number of 1.05. Near stall the detached bow shock exhibits pronounced modal shock oscillations at buffet frequencies of ω ∗ = 2 π f c / U 1 = 2.27 which are not related to any structural aeroelastic modes. High-speed PIV at several stations along the chord provides chordwise velocity spectra and wave propagation velocities of shock-induced perturbations. For this purpose, a double-pulse laser system with a high-repetition rate was set up consisting of two combined DPSS lasers. This enables time-resolved PIV using frame straddling at up to 100 kfps and pulse separations down to 800 ns. Synchronized high-speed shadowgraph imaging simultaneously locates the position of the bow shock. Based on cross-correlations between velocity time records at two points and between velocity and shock position, the propagation velocity of the modal perturbations is determined upstream and downstream from the shock. The measured data indicate that feedback occurs between a region immediately downstream of the shock foot and a plane upstream of the shock, up to which transverse velocity disturbances are convected. This observation is contrary to Lee’s model Lee (AIAA J 28(5):942–944, 1990) which describes self-sustained shock-buffet as a consequence of shock–trailing edge interactions. Graphic Abstract