Symmetry plane model for turbulent flows with vortex generators

Abstract

An approximate procedure is proposed for predicting the performance of counterrotating vortex-generator installations in incompressible flow. An inviscid calculation that includes the motion of the vortices is used to obtain crossflow velocities at the boundary-layer edge as a function of initial position, spacing, and strength of the vortices, and local values of the spanwise gradient are then folded into an integral turbulent-boundary layer procedure applied in the plane of symmetry. Special attention is paid to the consistency of the approximations and equations used. The two-dimensional aerodynamics of vortex generator installations on a NACA 0016 airfoil at angle-of-attack are estimated in this manner, and the results compared with experiments carried out with a 30-cm chord wing mounted in a 2.4 x 3.6-m cross-section wind tunnel and tested at chord Reynolds numbers of 0.7 and 1.4 x 10 to the 6th. Agreement in the separation location is found for these complex flows for a range of conditions.