Αλληλεπίδραση ομόρροπα περιστρεφόμενων στροβίλων απορρέματος

Abstract

Experimental evidence is reported regarding the structure of the threedimensional mean and fluctuating velocity and vorticity fields of a turbulent corotating vortex pair. The presented results constitute part of ongoing research on vortex wakes aiming at contributing to the understanding of trailing vortex interaction dynamics and turbulence structure. The flow field under study is the result of interaction of the pair of co-rotating tip vortices formed by a split wing configuration, consisting of two half wings of equal length l = 24.5cm arranged at equal and opposite angles of attack, .. = .. 8 degrees. The airfoil profile of the wings is that of a NACA0030 with cord length c = 10cm. The wing arrangement is placed at the entrance of the test section of a low turbulence subsonic wind tunnel, of dimensions 30cm .. 50cm .. 300cm. In the near wake region, simultaneous measurements of the three-dimensional vector fields of velocity and vorticity in the corotating vortex pair were conducted using an in-house designed and constructed 12-hotwire sensors 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 field. This configuration makes possible the estimation of spatial velocity derivatives by means of a forward difference scheme of first order accuracy. The probe was calibrated in-situ in the core region of a round jet rotatable about the pitch and yaw directions. Based on preliminary visualization experiments the cross plane at x/c=0.3 (near wake) has been selected as representative of the vortex pair formation. The evolution of the vortex pair interaction (far wake region) was recorded by a 4-hotwire sensor, capable of measuring simultaneously the three-dimensional velocity vector of the flow filed. After shedding the two vortices are swept along the streamwise direction. The cores initially move away from each other. The rotational velocity field around each core induces a rotational velocity to the other vortex and thus both vortex cores are spiraling around each other, developing a braid of two vortices and deforming the external flow field in the downstream direction. Gradually the interaction flow field links both vortices together until the final merging and the formation of a new stable linear vortex. In the 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. As vortices start to interact, the two cores lose their symmetry and obtain an elliptical formation. The corotating vortex pair is observed to merge at about 0.6 orbit periods and at a downstream distance of 7c from wing tips. Visualization experiments show that the instantaneous flow field of the vortices preserves at all times the structural characteristics of the mean flow field. The vortices are continuously formed close to the wing tips and the fluctuating flow field is the result of changes in the intensity of the formation (e.g. larger or smaller vortex core size) or changes in the position of the cores (wandering) which both should be attributed to secondary attenuating flow instabilities. In this sense the relation of the turbulent field to the mean field is significantly different from cases with no identifiable coherent flow structures (e.g. grid turbulence) or flow fields in which the successive presence of distinct structures result in an idealized but never present mean flow structure. This research work was part of the C-Wake Project of the Aeronautics program of the EC.