Characteristics and evolution of ground vortex under heaving ground conditions: Insights from large eddy simulation (LES) analysis

Abstract

When an aircraft engine operates near the ground, the ambient vortices generated by the freestream velocity boundary layer and engine suction will gather and lift, forming ground vortices which may result in intake distortion, consequently affecting the engine operation stability. To develop a shipborne test platform, this study conducted large eddy simulation calculations using the ANSYS Fluent and based on the assumption of incompressible flow. The 3-D unsteady Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations were solved using the WALE sub-grid model. The analysis focused on the characteristics and evolution of ground vortices under heaving ground conditions within 1 s. The results indicate that the ground vortex exhibits strong unsteady characteristics. During the descending phase of the platform, the quantity of vortex formed beneath the intake duct would decrease while the trailing vortex becomes more pronounced. However, the structure of the inlet vortex remains relatively unchanged at each time step. The intensity of the vortex and pressure distortion coefficient exhibit significant fluctuations over time, and their temporal variations approximately follow a sinusoidal function, which is also the heaving motion of the platform. Generally, when the velocity of the platform reaches its maximum downward vertical value, the average vortex intensity of the ground vortex tends to be minimal while the pressure distortion coefficient approaches its maximum value. Conversely, when the velocity of the platform reaches its maximum upward vertical value, the opposite trend can be observed.