Experimental investigation on tip vortices and aerodynamics

The tip vortices and aerodynamics of a NACA0012 wing in the vicinity of the ground were studied in a wind tunnel. The wing tip vortex structures and lift/drag forces were measured by a seven-hole probe and a force balance, respectively. The evolution of the flow structures and aerodynamics with a ground height were analyzed. The vorticity of tip vortices was found to reduce with the decreasing of the ground height, and the position of vortex-core moved gradually to the outboard of the wing tip. Therefore, the down-wash flow induced by the tip vortices was weakened. However, vortex breakdown occurred as the wing lowered to the ground. From the experimental results of aerodynamics, the maximum lift-to-drag ratio was observed when the angle of attack was 2.5° and the ground clearance was 0.2.     

基于雨燕翅膀的仿生三角翼气动特性计算研究

针对低雷诺数微型飞行器的气动布局, 设计出类似雨燕翅膀的一组具有不同前缘钝度的中等后掠($\varLambda =50^{\circ}$)仿生三角翼. 为了定量对比研究三角翼后缘收缩产生的气动效应, 设计了一组具有同等后掠的普通三角翼. 为了深入研究仿生三角翼布局的前缘涡演化特性以及总体气动特性, 采用数值模拟方法详细地探索了低雷诺数($Re=1.58\times 10^{4})$流动条件下前缘涡涡流结构和气动力随迎角的变化规律. 分析结果表明, 前缘钝度和后缘收缩对仿生三角翼前缘涡的涡流强度和涡破裂位置有显著影响. 相对于钝前缘来说, 尖前缘使仿生三角翼上下表面的压力差增大, 涡流强度也更大, 增升作用也更显著. 相对于普通三角翼构型, 仿生三角翼的前缘斜切使其阻力更大, 但后缘的收缩使涡破裂位置固定在此位置, 因此整个上翼面保持低压, 总的升力更大. 由于小迎角时升力增大更明显, 因此仿生三角翼的气动效率在小迎角时明显大于普通三角翼. 这些结论对于揭示鸟类的飞行机理以及未来微型仿生飞行器的气动布局设计具有重要的研究价值.      

Prediction of Unsteady Aerodynamic Forces on Maneuvering Delta Wings

A semi-empirical model was developed to study the breakdown effects on maneuvering delta wings performing very high angle of attack excursions. The basic vortical flow model used was the Brown & Michael model and an unsteady source distribution was found to simulate the breakdown of the leading edge vortices. The source distribution is based on experimental observations of the vortex breakdown chordwise propagation during pitch-down and pitch-up motion. In spite of the simplicity of the vortical model used, the new model simulates the present complicated flow field. This model succeeds in predicting the leading edge core position hysteresis, the hysteresis in the unsteady pressure distribution and the corresponding airloads at extreme angles of attack. The normal force and pitching moment results are in good agreement with experimental measurements.     

三角翼大迎角流场结构和气动力特性的数值分析研究

采用数值计算方法对亚音速三角翼纵向及带有小侧滑情况下的流场结构和气动力特性进行了计算。文中给出了三角翼大迎角纵向情况下气动力、机翼前缘分离涡轴线位置和旋涡破裂位置随迎角的变化规律，以及带有横侧小扰动和小侧滑情况下流场结构的非对称性对气动力的影响。计算结果表明与实验结果符合较好。     

Effects of a vectored trailing edge jet on delta wing vortex breakdown

Flow visualization was used to study the effects of a vectored trailing edge jet on the leading edge vortex breakdown of a 65° delta wing. The experimental results indicated that there is little effect of the jet on the leading edge vortex breakdown when the angle of the vectored jet is less than 10°. With the increase of the vectored angle ß, the effect of the jet on the flow becomes stronger, i.e., the jet delays the leading edge vortex breakdown in the direction of the vectored jet, and accelerates breakdown of the other leading edge vortex. Moreover, the effect of the jet control tends to be weaker with the angle of attack.     

Vortex control by the spanwise suction flow on the upper surface of delta wing

The numerical investigation has been performed to explore the feasibility of vortex control by leading edge sucking excitation on a delta wing. The results reveal that the flow on the upper surface of the delta wing changes significantly in a wide range of the angle of attack. For the vortical flow at moderate angle of attack, the secondary and tertiary vortices are weakened or suppressed, and the total lift is almost unchanged. For the stalled flow at high angle of attack, the leading edge concentrated vortex is recovered, and the lift is enhanced with increasing suction rate. For the bluff-body flow at even high angles of attack, the lift can still be improved. The concentrated vortex disappears on the upper surface, and the load increment is nearly unchanged along the chordwise direction. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19802018).     

Computation of field structure and aerodynamic characteristics of delta wings at high angles of attack

A numerical investigation of the structure of the vortical flowfield over delta wings at high angles of attack in longitudinal and with small sideslip angle is presented. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulations were carried out to predict the complex leeward-side flowfield characteristics that are dominated by the effect of the breakdown of the leading-edge vortices. The methods that analyze the flowfield structure quantitatively were given by using flowfield data from the computational results. In the region before the vortex breakdown, the vortex axes are approximated as being straight line. As the angle of attack increases, the vortex axes are closer to the root chord, and farther away from the wing surface. Along the vortex axes, as the adverse pressure gradients occur, the axial velocity decreases, that is, A is negativee, so the vortex is unstable, and it is possible to breakdown. The occurrence of the breakdown results in the instability of lateral motion for a delta wing, and the lateral moment diverges after a small perturbation occurs at high angles of attack. However, after a critical angle of attack is reached the vortices breakdown completely at the wing apex, and the instability resulting from the vortex breakdown disappears.     

偏转矢量喷流对双三角翼前缘涡破裂影响的实验研究

本文应用染色液流动显示技术对后缘偏转喷流情况下76°/40°双三角翼前缘涡破裂位置的变化进行了观测,实验结果表明偏转喷流主要推迟与喷流方向相同一侧前缘涡的破裂,而使另一侧前缘涡破裂略有提前.随着喷流偏转角度的增大,喷流使两前缘涡破裂位置差逐渐增大.另外,随着模型攻角的增大,前缘涡涡核与双三角翼翼面的夹角逐渐增大,导致偏转喷流的作用逐渐减弱.     

Computational modeling of vortex breakdown control on a delta wing

We present an effort to model the development and the control of the vortex breakdown phenomenon on a delta wing. The pair of the vortices formed on the suction side of a delta wing is the major contributor to the lift generation. As the angle of attack increases, these vortices become more robust, having high vorticity values. The critical point of a delta wing operation is the moment when these vortices, after a certain angle of attack, are detached from the wing surface and wing stall occurs. In order to delay or control the vortex breakdown mechanism, various techniques have been developed. In the present work, the technique based on the use of jet-flaps is numerically investigated with computational fluid dynamics by adopting two eddy-viscosity turbulence models. The computational results are compared with the experimental data of Shih and Ding (1996). It is shown that between the two turbulence models, the more advanced one, which adopts a non-linear constitutive expression for the Reynolds-stresses, is capable to capture the vortex breakdown location for a variety of jet exit angles. The performance assessment of the models is followed by the investigation of the effect of the jet-flap on the lift and drag coefficients.     

Vortex breakdown and its control on delta wings

In order to investigate the breakdown of vortices generated by the leading edge of delta wings, LDA-measurements have been performed in the flow on the suction side of a delta wing of aspect ratio A = 2. The measurements describe the growth of the vortex along the leading edge and reveal a certain radial structure upstream of the breakdown point. Moreover they shed light on the mechanism responsible for the onset of vortex breakdown on the suction side of a wing.

The occurrence of the breakdown phenomenon on a delta wing may be prevented or at least retarded by the use of spanwise blowing jets. The interaction of vortex and jets giving rise to these effects will also be discussed with the help of measured velocity profiles.     

Experiments on the unsteady nature of vortex breakdown over delta wings

 Vortex breakdown location over delta wings is not steady and exhibits fluctuations along the axis of the vortices. Experiments on the nature and source of these fluctuations were carried out. Spectral analysis and other statistical concepts were used to quantify the unsteady behaviour of vortex breakdown location obtained from flow visualization. The fluctuations consist of quasi-periodic oscillations and high-frequency low amplitude displacements. The quasi-periodic oscillations are due to an interaction between the vortices, which cause the antisymmetric motion of breakdown locations for left and right vortices. The oscillations are larger and more coherent as the time-averaged breakdown locations get closer to each other as angle of attack or sweep angle is varied. The frequency of this organized motion is much smaller than the frequency of any other known instabilities. On the other hand, the most probable frequency for the high-frequency small-amplitude fluctuations of breakdown location is in the same range as the frequency of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the separated shear layer. A mechanism for the interaction between the vortices causing the oscillations of breakdown location was proposed. When a splitter plate was placed in the symmetry plane of the wing, the large amplitude quasi-periodic oscillations of breakdown location were suppressed. Received: 10 March 1998 / Accepted: 27 October 1998     

Effect of apex strake incidence-angle on the vortex development and interaction of a double-delta wing

The vortex flow characteristics of a sharp-edged delta wing with an apex strake was investigated through the visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement of the wing-leeward flow region, and the wing-surface pressure measurement. The wing model was a flat-plate, and 65°-sweep cropped-delta wing with sharp leading edges. The apex strake was also a flat-plate wing with a cropped-delta shape of 65°/90° sweep, and it can change its incidence angle. The flow Reynolds number was 2.2 × 10⁵ for the flow visualization and 8.2 × 10⁵ for the PIV and wing-surface pressure measurements. The physics of the vortex flow in the wing-leeward flow region and the suction-pressure distribution on the wing upper-surface were interrelated and analyzed. The effect of a positive (negative) strake incidence-angle was the upward movement of the strake and wing vortices away from (downward movement of the strake and wing vortices toward) the wing-upper surface and the delayed (enhanced) coiling interaction between them. This change of vortex flow characteristics projected directly on the suction pressure distribution on the wing upper-surface.     

Vortex structure of separated flows on model wings at low freestream velocities

Flow past model wings is experimentally investigated in a subsonic wind tunnel at large angles of attack at which the laminar boundary layer separates near the leading edge of the wing (flow stall). The object of the study was the flow structure within the separation zone. The carbon-oil visualization of surface streamlines used in the experiments showed that in the separation zone there exist one or more pairs of large-scale vortices rotating in the wing plane. Certain general properties of the vortex structures in the separation zone are found to exist, whereas the flow patterns may differ depending on the model aspect ratio, the yaw angle, and other factors.     

65°三角翼亚音速复杂流场计算和数据可视化

提出一种基于非结构混合网格和有限体积法的有效计算策略,对第二期国际涡流试验项目(second international vortex flow experiment,VFE-2)的尖前缘65°三角翼在马赫数0.4,迎角20.3°,雷诺数2×10~6条件下的亚音速复杂流场结构进行数值模拟,重点探讨了基于计算数据进行该类型复杂涡系干扰表面和空间流场关键特征提取和数据可视化问题.通过与相关试验类比,建立了与先进试验流动显示技术相比拟的定性和定量分析方法,为三角翼这类复杂流场结构的精细分析奠定了技术基础.采用上述方法,细致分析了亚音速三角翼的大迎角复杂旋涡流场结构,得到了与试验一致的结论.研究证实:在大迎角条件下,三角翼流动物理复杂,黏性效应耦合严重,只有通过N-S方程计算才能准确地捕捉主涡和二次涡的发展.     

Application of a vortex lattice numerical model in the calculation of inviscid incompressible flow around delta wings

The flow over a flat plate delta wing at incidence and in sideslip is studied using vortex lattice models based on streamwise penelling. For the attached flow problem the effect of sideslip is simulated by modifying the standard vortex lattice model for zero sideslip by aligning the trailing vortices aft of the wing along the resultant flow direction. For the separated flow problem a non-linear vortex lattice model is developed for both zero and non-zero sideslip angles in which the shape and position of the leading edge separation vortices are calculated by an iterative procedure starting from an assumed initial shape. The theoretical values are compared with available theoretical and experimental results.     

Numerical study of vortex-breakdown over a slender wing in transonic flow at high incidence

The transonic flowfields and vortex-breakdown over a slender wing with the angle of attack from 10° to 28° are studied numerically, and the emphasis is on the secondary separation and the charateristics of vortex-breakdown. The results indicated that: (a) TVD schemes have strong capability for capturing vortices in three-dimensional transonic separated flow at large angle of attack. (b) The development of secondary vortices is more complex than that of leading-edge ones, and is affected by wing's configuration, angle of attack and compressibility simultaneously, and the effect of compressibility is more severe at low angle of attack. (c) The starting angle of attack for vortex-breakdown (when vortex bursting point crosses trailing-edge) is about 18° forM∞=0.85, then the bursting point moves upstream quickly with increasing angle of attack. (d) At α=24°, breakdown occurs over most part of upper side, and the wing begins to stall. Therefore, there is a large lag of angle of attack between the beginning of vortex-breakdown and the stall of the wing. (e) This lag increase with the decreasing of Mach number.     

Multisensor Hot Wire Vorticity Probe Measurements of the Formation Field of Two Corotating Vortices

Experimental evidence is reported, regarding the formation of a pair of co-rotating tip vortices by a split wing configuration, consisting of two half wings at equal and opposite angles of attack. Simultaneous measurements of the three-dimensional vector fields of velocity and vorticity were conducted on a cross plane at a downstream distance corresponding to 0.3 cord lengths (near wake), using an in-house constructed 12-sensor hot wire anemometry vorticity probe. The probe consists of three closely separated orthogonal 4-wire velocity sensor arrays, measuring simultaneously the three-dimensional velocity vector at three closely spaced locations on a cross plane of the flow filed. This configuration makes possible the estimation of spatial velocity derivatives by means of a forward difference scheme of first order accuracy. Velocity measurements obtained with an X-wire are also presented for comparison. In this near wake location, the flow field is dictated by the pressure distribution established by the flow around the wings, mobilizing large masses of air and leading to the roll up of fluid sheets. Fluid streams penetrating between the wings collide, creating on the cross plane flow a stagnation point and an “impermeable” line joining the two vortex centres. Along this line fluid is directed towards the two vortices, expanding their cores and increasing their separation distance. This feeding process generates a dipole of opposite sign streamwise mean vorticity within each vortex. The rotational flow within the vortices obligates an adverse streamwise pressure gradient leading to a significant streamwise velocity deficit characterizing the vortices. The turbulent flow field is the result of temporal changes in the intensity of the vortex formation and changes in the position of the cores (wandering).     

The temporal evolution of a pair of streamwise vortices

A detailed investigation of the velocity and vorticity fields of a pair of vortices growing over a 75°-sweep delta wing is carried out through LDV measurements of three components of velocity and vorticity. Data are obtained along one of the vortices. The wing is undergoing a ramp-like pitch-up motion. The evolution of the flow field in four planes normal to the free-stream velocity is captured at 100 time instants through the wing motion. The delta wing is pitched through angles of attack ranging from 28° to 68°. From the velocity data at each incidence, the corresponding vorticity field is calculated. Hysteresis effects on vortex development and breakdown are studied through axial velocity and vorticity contours. The topologies of streamlines and vortex lines are compared with the corresponding topologies of the steady case. It is found that vortex breakdown can be detected first by a drastic reduction of the axial velocity. This phenomenon is developing in a non-axisymmetric fashion, beginning at the inboard side of the vortex. This is followed by a reduction of the axial vorticity component and finally by a reversal of the azimuthal vorticity component.This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Project No. AFOSR-91-0310 and was monitored by Major Daniel Fant.     

三角翼前缘涡的某些破裂形式及特性研究

基于流动显示和PIV技术测量的实验结果，对三角翼前缘涡破裂的一些形式和破裂特性进行了分析和讨论。通过PIV测量所得到的涡量分布证实了在螺旋破裂的情况下，涡核的螺旋方向与前缘涡的旋转方向相反，及双螺旋破裂形式的存在等。进而对螺旋波的形成机理提出了与有关文献不同的看法。     

Robustness of the Leading Edge Vortex on Rotating Wings to Unsteady Perturbations

The vast majority of research works on low aspect ratio rotating wings report that, at high angle of attack, the leading edge vortex that forms on the upper surface of the wing is stable. This ‘trick’ is used by insects and auto-rotating seeds, for example, to achieve the desirable amount of lift. Yet, a few experimental studies suggest that leading edge vortices might be unstable under similar, low Rossby number, conditions. While it is unclear what causes vortex shedding in these studies, the present communication explores the sensitivity of leading edge vortex attachment to perturbations of the rotating speed and demonstrates that shedding can be triggered even for very small perturbations, corresponding to wing tip displacements lower than 1% of the wing chord.