Convective instability and nonlinear transition in rotating-disk boundary layers of an infinite rotor-stator cavity

Abstract

The accurate prediction of flow state evolution and laminar-to-turbulent transition within rotor-stator cavities is fundamentally critical for the predictive analytics and advanced design of modern aero-engines. Given that the flow in the rotating-disk boundary layer of an infinitely rotor-stator cavity closely resembles the von Kármán boundary layer, it theoretically exhibits both convective and absolute instabilities. This study systematically investigates the convective instability characteristics induced by the stationary mode—defined precisely by a temporal frequency a co-rotating frame—and its subsequent transition process to turbulence.