The three-dimensional transition stages over the NACA-0009 airfoil at Reynolds numbers of several ten thousand

This experimental study addresses late transition stages over a conventional airfoil at Reynolds numbers of several ten thousands. The study is based on extensive volumetric flow measurements using constant temperature anemometry. This technique provided both the time-averaged description of the flow field in the vicinity of the wing and the high fidelity spectral analysis inside the separated boundary layer. Large cellular flow structures were observed above the wing. They resemble the stall cells at Reynolds numbers of a few hundred thousands and separation cells at Reynolds numbers of a few hundred. It is shown that most of the energy of the velocity fluctuations within the boundary layer over the forward half of the wing is concentrated in the low-frequency range of the spectrum, where the chord-based Strouhal number is small as compared with unity.