On the effect of low blowing ratio continuous jets on wingtip vortex characteristics

Abstract

Vortices are an unavoidable effect of flight, which appear behind the wing with a bounded length. The strength of these vortices, which are extremely stable, is due to the lift force [1]. That is the reason why this phenomenon is especially relevant during take-off and landing operations. In these situations, when aircraft are departing from or arriving to the airport runways, the following aircraft might feel two counter-rotating vortices which remain long time under normal environmental conditions. Unfortunately, this huge rotation of airflow patterns always destabilizes the following aircraft. Consequently, trailing vortices have a mighty influence on the air traffic control of airport runways, and they have justified the research interest in this topic since the 1960's [2]. However, aeronautical engineers are still searching for different technological strategies to breakdown these wingtip vortices.