Supersonic boundary layer stability analysis with and without suction on aircraft wings

An analysis of the boundary layer and its stability with and without suction on a supersonic cruise fighter wing having biconvex 5 percent thick airfoils is conducted for a free-stream Mach number of 2.0 and an angle of attack of 4.0 deg. It is found that the largest amplification is due to the highly oblique traveling cross flow type waves, oriented approximately 80 deg without suction, and 87.5 deg with suction, from the local external velocity vector. It is concluded that with the biconvex airfoil section on the thin swept wing, this type of instability would be the likely cause of transition. The approximate values of the frequency, wave orientation angle, and wavelength/chord ratio for the most amplified disturbance are given for the cases of suction and no suction. The largest amplifications are found for highly oblique traveling crossflow type waves oriented at approximately 80 deg without suction and 87.5 deg with suction, measured from the local external velocity vector.