Laminar-turbulent transition in a superfluid helium boundary layer

The aim of this training period is the experimental study of the transition to turbulence in a superfluid He boundary layer (below 2.17K) at the surface of an oscillating plate. Superfluid helium is often described a mixture of two independent components: the normal component is viscous and governed by the standard Navier-Stokes equation while the superfluid component is inviscid.

The way those two components interact to form a boundary layer is poorly documented. In particular, below a critical Reynolds number (often associated to a velocity in the literature), it is expected that only the normal component is influenced by the presence of the moving plate. It is one of the hypothesis we shall address during the training period.

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