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Enhancement of aircraft wake vortex decay in ground proximity

Experiment versus Simulation

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Abstract

Aircraft wake vortex evolution in ground proximity is investigated experimentally in a water towing tank, as well as numerically with wall-resolved large eddy simulation (LES). With these complementary instruments the enhancement of wake vortex decay by obstacles, introduced at the ground surface, is analyzed. The experimental methods include time-resolved stereo particle image velocimetry and vortex core visualization. For comparison with the experiment, the LES considers the turbulent wake of the strut, holding the towed aircraft model. Wake vortex trajectories and circulation decay are compared at different distances from the obstacle. Tracers are employed to visualize the obstacle’s effects on the vortex core, in LES and experiment. The experimentally obtained trajectories and decay characteristics are reproduced qualitatively by simulations, whereas the agreement is degraded at later times. Beyond that, the vortex dynamics, deduced from the LES results, help to understand the experimental observations. The obstacles trigger helical secondary vortex structures, propagating along the primary vortices. The observed propagation speed of the helical disturbance is fairly well predicted by the suggested simple model. It is shown that the obstacles significantly modify the vortex interaction with the ground and substantially accelerate vortex decay. Two neighboring obstacles lead to colliding disturbances that further enhance vortex decay rates.

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Notes

  1. In a distance of \(\Updelta x^*=1.05\) not enough data could be acquired after t* = 3 to evaluate statistics.

Abbreviations

\(\varGamma\) :

Circulation, m2/s

\(\varGamma_0\) :

Initial vortex circulation, m2/s

\(\nu\) :

Molecular viscosity, m2/s

\(\nu_{\rm t}\) :

Turbulent viscosity, m2/s

ω :

Vorticity, 1/s

ω x , ω y , ω z :

Vorticity components, 1/s

ρ :

Density, kg/m3

σ:

Standard deviation

a :

Radius of secondary vortex structure, m

A, B :

Parameters for strut wake turbulence model

b 0 :

Initial vortex separation, m

C :

Chord length, mm

C D :

Drag coefficient, 1/m

d :

Chord thickness, mm

E strut :

Turbulent kinetic energy of strut wake, Nm

\(E_\varGamma\) :

Turbulent kinetic energy of the vortex, Nm

h 0 :

Initial vortex height, m

L x , L y , L z :

Dimensions, m

l strut :

Length of the strut, m

N x , N y , N z :

Grid points

p :

Pressure, N/m2

R :

Curvature radius, m

\(Re_\varGamma\) :

Vortex Reynolds number

\(Re_{\rm c}\) :

Chord Reynolds number based on towing speed

r c :

Vortex core radius, m

t :

Time, s

t 0 :

Time unit, s

U 0 :

Towing speed, m/s

u i , u, v, w :

Velocity components, m/s

U hel :

Propagation speed of helix front, m/s

V 0 :

Initial vortex descent speed, m/s

x i , x, y, z :

Coordinates, m

\(\Updelta x\) :

Distance to obstacle, m

0:

Reference state

max:

Maximum value

rms:

Root mean square

hel:

Helix

L:

LES

ring:

Ring

W:

WSG

′:

Deviation from reference state

*:

Normalized with respect to vortex flow

+:

Normalized by chord length

DLR:

German Aerospace Center

ICAO:

International Civil Aviation Organization

LES:

Large-eddy simulation

PIV:

Particle image velocimetry

SVS:

Secondary vortex structure

WSG:

Wasser Schleppkanal Göttingen

WVAS:

Wake vortex advisory system

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Acknowledgments

The simulations have been performed using supercomputers at Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ). We would like to thank Prof. M. Manhart for providing the original version of the LES code MGLET. The work was funded by DLR project Wetter & Fliegen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), 82234, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    Anton Stephan, Frank Holzäpfel & Takashi Misaka

  2. Institut für Aerodynamik und Strömungstechnik, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Reinhard Geisler & Robert Konrath

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  1. Anton Stephan
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  2. Frank Holzäpfel
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Correspondence to Anton Stephan.

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Stephan, A., Holzäpfel, F., Misaka, T. et al. Enhancement of aircraft wake vortex decay in ground proximity. CEAS Aeronaut J 5, 109–125 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-013-0094-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-013-0094-8

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