Strength Of Wingtip Vortices Research Articles

Effect of marginal variation of aspect ratio and frequency with kinematic asymmetry on flow field around flapping rigid wing in hover

Phase-locked two dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are used to capture flow field around rigid flat plate wings undergoing main flapping motion (hover) with water as fluid medium in quiescent condition. Experiments are conducted using asymmetric upper-lower stroke single degree of freedom main flapping motion. Two different aspect ratio (AR) 1.5 and 1.0 rectangular wings at 1.5 Hz and 2.0 Hz flapping frequency and chord based Reynolds number of the order of 104 are studied. To achieve the desired aspect ratio, wing span is varied while wing chord remains fixed. Flow features for downstroke and upstroke are comparable for all four cases investigated. This includes vortex shedding from wingtip during wing stroke, vorticity intensification caused due to vortex stretching which occurs more dominantly for AR = 1.0, occurrence of KH instability in shear layer formed due to wing sweep and added mass effect due to the flow dragged by flapping wing. Vortex filamentation and fragmentation phenomena are observed during downstroke and upstroke respectively due to faster downstroke and slower upstroke. Rossby number, which is the ratio of inertial to Coriolis force is significant for rotational flapping wing. With increase in Rossby number there is a reduction in the spanwise flow over wing which influences strength of wingtip vortex at beginning of a stroke. It is found that spanwise flow for AR = 1.5 is stronger than AR = 1.0 and consequently the strength of wingtip vortex is higher for higher aspect ratio. However, peak vorticity is higher for AR = 1.0 due to vortex stretching effect which is expected to be more dominant at lower AR due to three dimensional effects. Effect of marginal variation in wing aspect ratio, flapping frequency with kinematic asymmetry are studied using velocity field, vorticity (ωz) contours, λ2 criterion, peak vorticity variation and its spatial distribution as well as kinetic energy variation of the flow field. Kinetic energy distribution and its connection with wake capture is explored.

Streamwise vortices, cellular shedding and force coefficients on finite wing at low Reynolds number

Numerical simulations for flow past a finite rectangular wing with a NACA 0012 section at $Re=1000$ for various semi-aspect ratios ( $0.25\le sAR \le 7.5$ ) over a range of angles of attack ( $0^{\circ }\le \alpha \le 14^{\circ }$ ) reveal streamwise vortices, which increase in strength and number to occupy an increasing spanwise extent with increase in $\alpha$ . They result in non-monotonic spanwise variation of local force coefficients and increased strength of wing-tip vortex for $\alpha >8^{\circ }$ . Viscous and pressure drag dominate for low and high sAR, respectively. The time-averaged drag coefficient first decreases and then increases with increase in $sAR$ . Vortex shedding for $\alpha =14^{\circ }$ is single cell and parallel for $sAR<3$ . Shedding is in two cells with an oblique angle that varies with time, leading to large spanwise variation in the root mean square of local force coefficients for higher $sAR$ . Various types of dislocations, reported earlier in wakes of bluff bodies, are seen for different $\alpha$ and $sAR$ . Dislocations for $\alpha =14^{\circ }$ appear at the same spanwise location for $sAR=3$ and at different spanwise locations for $sAR\ge 4$ . Vortex shedding for $\alpha =12^{\circ }$ and $sAR=5$ exhibits one cell structure in the near wake and two cells in the far wake due to splitting and reconnection of vortices near the mid-span in the moderate wake. Linkages form between counter-rotating spanwise vortices for $sAR\ge 1$ . Additional linkages between shed- and wing-tip vortices are observed for lower $sAR$ . At each $\alpha$ , the strength of the wing-tip vortex and radius of its core, estimated using Rankine and Lamb–Oseen models, increases up to a certain $sAR$ beyond which it is approximately constant.

Numerical study on the flow characteristics of micro air vehicle wings at low Reynolds numbers

The aerodynamic characteristics around a micro air vehicle wing with an inverse-Zimmerman configuration are numerically investigated by an in-house programmed solver particularly dedicated for aircrafts operating in low Reynolds number regime. The complex three-dimensional aerodynamic performance was investigated in terms of force generation and flow structures visualization. Results show that the flow around the low aspect ratio MAV wing is characterized by complex three-dimensional separation-dominated flow. The flow fields exhibit separation, reattachment, secondary separation, secondary reattachment, and strong interaction between the separated boundary layer and wingtip vortices. In addition, the effect of tip-attached vertical stabilizers on flow structure and aerodynamic forces is addressed in this paper. The stabilizers significantly influence both the flow structure and aerodynamic forces via reducing the strength of wingtip vortices and shedding and interacting of wingtip vortices. Eventually, the unsteadiness of the aerodynamics revealed that higher angle of attack will result in stronger unsteady phenomena as demonstrated by the oscillating forces.

An Attempt for Suppression of Wing-Tip Vortex Using Plasma Actuators

Influence of the flow induced by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators on the wing-tip vortex is investigated numerically and experimentally. The plasma actuators are installed on the suction side of the NACA0012 airfoil and operated in blowing and suction modes. For the numerical simulation, direct numerical simulation (DNS) based on the finite-difference immersed-boundary method is used. The DNS shows that the circulation parameter, which measures the strength of wing-tip vortex, is reduced by blowing as well as suction. At the same time, however, the lift-to-drag ratio is found to decrease by the actuation. In the experiment, a wing model with plasma actuators is set inside the wind tunnel and the velocity fields are measured using a PIV system. Although suppression of wing-tip vortex is not confirmed due to insufficient strength of actuation and insufficient length of measurement area, the change of streamwise mean velocity profile is found to be similar to that of DNS.

An Attempt for Suppression of Wing-Tip Vortex Using Plasma Actuators

Influence of the flow induced by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators on the wing-tip vortex is investigated numerically and experimentally. The plasma actuators are installed on the suction side of the NACA0012 airfoil and operated in blowing and suction modes. For the numerical simulation, direct numerical simulation (DNS) based on the finite-difference immersed-boundary method is used. The DNS shows that the circulation parameter, which measures the strength of wing-tip vortex, is reduced by blowing as well as suction. At the same time, however, the lift-to-drag ratio is found to decrease by the actuation. In the experiment, a wing model with plasma actuators is set inside the wind tunnel and the velocity components are measured using a PIV system. Although suppression of wing-tip vortex is not confirmed due to insufficient strength of actuation and insufficient length of messurement area, the change of streamwise mean velocity profile is found to be similar to that of DNS.