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The Vortex Merger Factor in Aircraft Wake Turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

Miroslav Mokry*
Affiliation:
Institute for Aerospace Research, NRC, Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

Vortex merger is studied within the context of two-dimensional discrete vortex sheets and demonstrated on two equally oriented circular vortices and aircraft tip and flap vortices. It is confirmed that, depending on the wing load distribution, the latter may or may not coalesce into a single counter-rotating pair. The interaction of a vortex with an equally oriented shear layer, governed by the same physical principle, suggests a possible intensification of an aircraft vortex in cross-wind shear.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2005 

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