Boundary-Layer Transition with Fluids at Supercritical Pressure

Fluids at supercritical pressure are increasingly attractive for energy and propulsion technologies, from power cycles to advanced rocket engines. Their favourable thermophysical properties, notably high density combined with low viscosity, promise gains in efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Yet near the thermodynamic critical point, strong nonideal gas effects arise: thermodynamic and transport properties vary abruptly across the pseudo-critical (Widom) line, profoundly altering hydrodynamic stability and transition to turbulence. Accurate prediction of the onset and extent of turbulence is therefore essential for the reliable design and control of supercritical-fluid systems....