This work reports the application of an extended proper orthogonal decomposition (E-POD) procedure to multi-plane particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements describing the evolution of laminar separation bubbles (LSBs). Measurements were performed over a flat plate installed between adjustable end-walls providing a prescribed adverse pressure gradient for two Reynolds numbers (Re = 70 000, 150 000) and free-stream turbulence intensity levels (Tu = 1.5%, 2.5%). A wall-normal and two wall-parallel measuring planes located at different distance from the wall were considered. POD was applied to the entire PIV planes as well as on their sub-domains, showing the main flow features occurring in the different regions of the LSB. Then, the application of E-POD on different plane partitions revealed the existing correlation between the main dynamics observed in the forward part of the bubble and the breakup events occurring in the reattachment region. The E-POD modes computed in the breakup region resemble streaky structures when PIV snapshots are projected onto the POD eigenvectors of the near wall plane. Otherwise, Kelvin–Helmholtz rolls dominate the E-POD modes obtained by projection of the snapshot matrices on the basis computed in the plane located far from the wall. The main scales of the coherent structures highlighted by the E-POD modes were also characterized by means of the streamwise and spanwise autocorrelation functions of E-POD filtered fields. Data in this work clearly highlight the similarity properties of the main flow features observed in LSBs once scaled with the momentum thickness of the boundary layer at the separation position.

In this work, the free-stream turbulence (FST) induced transition of a flat plate boundary layer is studied using particle image velocimetry (PIV) under variable Reynolds number (Re), FST intensity, and adverse pressure gradient (APG). Overall, 10 different flow conditions were tested concerning the variation of these parameters. The streak spacing and the probability density function (PDF) of turbulent spot nucleation are computed for all cases. The streak spacing is shown to be constant in the transition region once scaled with the turbulent displacement and momentum thickness, with resulting values of around 3 and 5, respectively. Nucleation events are shown to occur near the position where the dimensionless streak spacing reaches such constant values. The streamwise position where most turbulent spots are formed is strongly influenced by the FST intensity level. Additionally, the PDF of spot nucleation becomes narrower with increase in the APG, while FST has the opposite effect. A common distribution of all the PDFs is provided as a function of a similarity variable accounting for the streak spacing, the shape factor of the boundary layer, and the FST intensity.