RT Conference Proceedings
T1 Experimental observations of trailing vortices at high Reynolds numbers
A1 Gallardo-Claros, Alejandro
A1 Serrano-Aguilera, Juan José
A1 Parras-Anguita, Luis
A1 Del-Pino-Peñas, Carlos Manuel
K1 Movimiento de vórtices
AB Experimental techniques applied to the study of wingtip vortices are of great interest for theFluid Mechanics Community. The available experimental techniques to obtain new insights intotrailing vortices, focus on quantitative methods, e.g. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)1,2. In fact,this technique requires high costs associated not only to equipments but also to imageprocessing that is a complex, and time consuming task. A novel, easier, faster and cheaperexperimental procedure is presented in this research work to compute experimentally thevortex structure in comparison to a theoretical model.Different theoretical models have described the velocity field for every cross section alongthe axial coordinate, once the vortex was created at the wing tip. These models depend onseveral parameters and provide the axial evolution of the velocity field. We used in this study aq-vortex or Batchelor’s3 model, based only on two free parameters: swirl value, q, and thevirtual origin in the axial coordinate, z0. These parameters have been processed with theexperimental trailing vortex formed by a NACA0012 aerofoil over a Reynolds number range of105. The experimental setup consists of one smoke wire device together with a laser beam, and adigital camera installed in a subsonic wind tunnel. A smoke segment was generated upstreamthe model, but near the wing edge. This line followed the main stream passing through the wingtip. Lift forces produced the characteristic vortex pattern, highlighted by the swirling smokesegment, and whose topological structure was recorded by a digital camera. Several sections atdifferent axial distances from the wing edge have been analyzed. The integration of the velocityfield in the theoretical model allowed us to know two theoretical parameters in order to obtainsimilar experimental streaklines at a given axial position, as shown in figure 1. The experimentalresults using this procedure were in agreement with those found in the literature1.
YR 2014
FD 2014-09-25
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10630/8114
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10630/8114
LA eng
NO Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has been supported by the Grant Proyecto de Excelencia nº TEP-7776.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 21 ene 2026