Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/M93321/01
Title:	STABILITY & TRANSITION TO TURBULENCE OF FLOWS AROUND ROTATING CONES
Principal Investigator:	Nickels, Dr T
Other Investigators:	Peake, Professor N
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Rolls-Royce Plc
Department:	Engineering
Organisation:	University of Cambridge
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	26 March 2001	Ends:	25 June 2004	Value (£):	162,153
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Fluid Dynamics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Continuing developments of spinning projectiles, aerofoils and aeroengines has led to the need to predict the onset of laminar-turbulent transition of three-dimensional boundary-layer flows. We will use techniques from spatio-temporal stability theory to model the hydrodynamic instabilities of the boundary layer over rotating cones. These instabilities lead to transition, which is generally undesirable and can lead to significant increases in drag. Understanding the stability of such boundary-layer flows and development of strategies to maintain laminar flow will lead to modifications in design. We suggest that the spinning-cone boundary layer can exhibit absolute instability that triggers the onset of nonlinearity and transition at a well-defined and predictable location along the cone. This has not previously been investigated for flows over rotating cones. In fact, the concept of absolute instability, particularly of boundary-layer flows, has only recently been introduced into mainstream fluid-dynamics research. We will consider effects of cone angle, rotation rate, axial flow speed, mass transfer at the surface and compressibility. The aim is to use stability analysis and experiments to illuminate the basic physics and to predict absolute instability and transition across a range of conditions, and thereby provide information that can be used to avoid undesirable flow conditions.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.cam.ac.uk