Visualization of coherent structures in a supersonic flat-plate boundary layer

Flow in a flat-plate zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer at Mach 3 was visualized via nanoparticle-based planar laser scattering (NPLS). Coherent structures such as an individual hairpin vortex and hairpin packet were identified in the streamwise-wall-normal plane on the basis of the now accepted hairpin model. I >-shaped vortices were found in a staggered pattern in the streamwise-spanwise plane, which indicated H-type transition in the present experiments. This is the direct evidence (in the form of flow visualization) of such coherent structures in a supersonic boundary layer. A series of NPLS images taken in streamwise-spanwise planes at different heights is presented, and the three-dimensional structures of the supersonic boundary layer agree well with the hairpin model.