Heat Transfer Effects of a Longitudinal Vortex Embedded in a Turbulent Boundary Layer

The heat transfer effects of an isolated longitudinal vortex embedded in a turbulent boundary layer were examined experimentally for vortex circulations ranging from Γ/U_∞δ₉₉ = 0.12 to 0.86. The test facility consisted of a two-dimensional boundary-layer wind tunnel, with a vortex introduced into the flow by a half-delta wing protruding from the surface. In all cases, the vortex size was of the same order as the boundary-layer thickness. Heat transfer measurements were made using a constant-heat-flux surface with 160 embedded thermocouples to provide high resolution of the surface-temperature distribution. Three-component mean-velocity measurements were made using a four-hole pressure probe. Spanwise profiles of the Stanton number showed local increases as large as 24 percent and decreases of approximately 14 percent. The perturbation to the Stanton number was persistent to the end of the test section, a length of over 100 initial boundary-layer thicknesses. The weakest vortices examined showed smaller heat transfer effects, but the Stanton number profiles were nearly identical for the three cases with circulation greater than Γ/U_∞δ₉₉ = 0.53 cm. The local increase in the Stanton number is attributed to a thinning of the boundary layer on the downwash side of the vortex.