When
Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.
Vasilis Tsakagiannis
PhD Candidate
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
University of Arizona
"Computational Investigation of Laminar-Turbulent Transition over a Hollow Cylinder Flare Wind Tunnel Model at Mach 5"
AME Lecture Hall, Room S202 | Zoom link
Abstract: Laminar-turbulent transition in high-speed boundary layers is still a major unresolved topic in fluid dynamics. The study of this topic is critical for advancing aerospace technology and ensuring the safety and efficiency of high-speed vehicles. Transition to turbulence in supersonic/hypersonic boundary layers leads to a significant increase in heat transfer and skin friction drag. It is currently not well understood how ramps/flares impact the laminar-turbulent transition process in hypersonic flow. Ramps/flares can be found as control surfaces on vehicle wings or as inlets of ramjet/scramjet engines. A geometric change, such as a ramp in high-speed flows, is known to generate compression shocks, that are interacting with the boundary layer (shock boundary layer interaction - SBLI). The resulting adverse pressure gradient thickens the boundary layer and can lead to the formation of a separation bubble. In this talk, results from a computational investigation using various tools that was performed for the hollow cylinder-flare wind tunnel model and flow conditions of the ongoing experiments at the Mach 5 Lutwieg Tube (LT5) at the University of Arizona, will be presented and discussed.
Bio: Vasilis is a PhD candidate investigating the laminar-turbulent transition process in high-speed flows, as part of the Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He holds a BS and MS degree in mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.