Response of hypersonic compression corner flow to upstream disturbances

Hypersonic flow over a two-dimensional compression corner is investigated using computational fluid dynamics and global resolvent analysis in this study, which is a continuation of the work done by Hao et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 919, 2021, p. A4). The same baseline free-stream conditions with a Mach number of 7.7 and a unit Reynolds number of 4.2 × 106 m−1 are considered. The ramp angles range from 0° (equivalent to a flat plate) to 12° (slightly below the critical angle of global instability). During this process, the base flow evolves from no separation to incipient separation to large separation. The resolvent analysis reveals that the optimal response to upstream disturbances localised near the leading edge is in the form of steady streamwise streaks for all interaction strengths, which arise from transient growth in the flat-plate boundary layer due to the lift-up mechanism and significantly grow near the corner due to the Görtler instability. The most amplified spanwise wavelength decreases as the ramp angle is increased and scales with the incoming boundary-layer thickness.