Wake Vortex Alleviation Flow Field Studies

Wake-vortex-allevialion research was conducted in the far-field vortex wake of a generic wing-tail aircraft model. The goats were to achieve accelerated vortex strength reduction and to map the conditions at which this reduction would occur. The wing-tail model was run in a water tow tank to generate a pair of unequal-strength counterrotating vortices on each side of centerline. Dye flow visualization provided physical insight into the nature of the vortex interactions, and three-component particle image velocimetry allowed quantification of key characteristics of the flowfield, including circulation, vorticity, vortex trajectory, and induced rolling moments. Experiments were conducted for a variety of model angles of attack, tail incidence angles, and tail spans