Computation of turbulent, separated, unswept compression ramp interactions

Examination of the literature shows that the comparison between experiment and computation for highly separated unswept compression ramp flows is generally poor, irrespective of the turbulence model used. In general, the upstream influence is not correct, the wall pressure rise through separation is too steep, and the pressures under the separated shear layer are too high. In the current study, the objective is to determine if these discrepancies might be attributed more to other factors such as flowfield unsteadiness or three-dimensionality, rather than to inadequate turbulence modeling. To examine this possibility, multichannel wall pressure fluctuations were measured under the unsteady separation shock wave in a 28-deg unswept compression ramp flow at Mach 5. The results show that the large scale, low frequency separation shock unsteadiness controls the distribution of time-averaged surface properties and that neglect of the unsteadiness is probably the primary cause of the discrepancy between experiment and computation.