Dye Visualization of the Flow Structure over a Yawed Nonslender Delta Wing

Abstract

S TUDIES of aerodynamic structures and behaviors of the nonslender delta wings are invariably essential to develop a method to control the development of the vortex breakdown as well as the development of vortices. Unsteady aerodynamics of nonslender delta wings, consisting of shear layer instabilities, the structure of vortices, the occurrence of breakdown, and fluid/structure interactions were extensively reviewed by Gursul et al. [1]. They emphasized the sensitivity of the vortical flow structures varying the angle of attack of the deltawing.Yavuz et al. [2] studied thevortical flow structure on a plane immediately adjacent to the surface of nonslender delta wing, 38:7 deg. Yaniktepe and Rockwell [3] performed experimental investigations on the flow structures at trailing-edge regions of diamondand lambda-type wings. In both wings, vortical flow structures in the crossflowplanes of trailing edge vary rapidly with the angles of attack . Sohn et al. [4] visually investigated the development and interaction of vortices in crossflow planes at various locations on the delta wing with leading edge extension (LEX) using micro water droplets and a laser beam sheet. The range of angle of attack was taken as 12 24 deg at yaw angles of 0, 5, and 10 deg. It was indicated that, by introducing yaw angle , the coiling, merging, and diffusion of thewing and LEX vortices increased on the windward side, whereas they became delayed significantly on the leeward side. Their study confirmed that the yaw angle had a profound effect on the vortex structures. Taylor and Gursul [5] visualized leading-edge vortices of a 50 deg sweep angle, having angles of attack as low as 2:5 deg. Gursul et al. [6] report that combat air vehicles (UCAVs) and micro air vehicles have particularly dominant vortical flows having low sweep angles (25–55 deg), and future UCAVs are expected to be highly maneuverable and highly flexible. Yaniktepe and Rockwell [7] aimed at investigating the unresolved concepts, which included averaged structure of shear layer from the leading edge of the wing, unsteady features of separated layer adjacent to the surface of the wing, and control of flow structure by leading-edge perturbations. Elkhoury and Rockwell [8] have investigated to provide various measurements of the visualized dye patterns, including the degree of interaction of vortices, the onset of vortex breakdown, and effective sweep angle of the wing root vortex, as a function of both Reynolds number and angle of attack . Elkhoury et al. [9] had investigated the Reynolds number dependence of the near-surface flow structure and topology on a representative UCAV planform. The present investigation focuses on the formation and development of leading-edge vortices, vortex breakdown, and threedimensional separationandstallof thecomplexanddisorganizedflow structure over the delta wing. The leading-edge sweep angle was 40 deg. The angle of attack was varied within the range of 7 17 deg and the yaw angle was varied within the range of 0 15 deg.