TY  - JOUR
SN  - 0022-1120
A1  - Rodríguez Álvarez, Daniel
A1  - Theofilis, Vassilios
JF  - Journal of Fluid Mechanics
N2  - The topology of the composite flow fields reconstructed by linear superposition of a two-dimensional boundary layer flow with an embedded laminar separation bubble and its leading three-dimensional global eigenmodes has been studied. According to critical point theory, the basic flow is structurally unstable; it is shown that in the presence of three-dimensional disturbances the degenerate basic flow topology is replaced by a fully three-dimensional pattern, regardless of the amplitude of the superposed linear perturbations. Attention has been focused on the leading stationary eigenmode of the laminar separation bubble discovered by Theofilis; the composite flow fields have been fully characterized with respect to the generation and evolution of their critical points. The stationary global mode is shown to give rise to a three-dimensional flow field which is equivalent to the classical U-shaped separation, defined by Hornung & Perry, and induces topologies on the surface streamlines that are resemblant to the characteristic stall cells observed experimentally.
EP  - 305
Y1  - 2010/12//
PB  - Cambridge University Press
AV  - public
UR  - http://www.jfm.damtp.cam.ac.uk/
SP  - 280
ID  - upm7671
TI  - Structural changes of laminar separation bubbles induced by global linear instability
VL  - 655
ER  -