Transition of boundary layer flows with application to turbomachinery airfoils

In this review, we focus on transition in turbomachinery. Thus, of the vast literature on transition, we discuss cases in which disturbance levels are high and, in particular, major disturbances are from passing wakes from upstream airfoils. We use some experimental data with which we are especially familiar to discuss the transition process. One reason for taking these data is to assess transition models used in design. Since the models were developed from data sets taken without wakes, we test whether they can be applied in a quasi-steady way to flows with wakes. We find that transition onset, especially separated flow transition onset, can be modelled in such a way under turbomachinery conditions, but the transition path cannot. Next, we introduce our present activity, an attempt to influence transition in a way that capitalizes on the effects of wakes on transition.