23rd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 8-13 September, 2002, Toronto, Canada
Paper ICAS 2002-3.8.2

INVESTIGATIONS ON THE TURBULENT WAKE VORTEX FLOW OF LARGE TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

C. Breitsamter, C. Bellastrada, B. Laschka
Technical University of Munchen, Germany

Keywords: wake vortex, unsteady/turbulent flow, hot–wire anemometry, large transport aircraft

The wake vortex formation and development behind a four-engined large transport aircraft model is studied in detail. Wind tunnel experiments have been conducted on an 1 :22.5 scaled half-model in landing configuration at angle of attack of 9.5 deg. The wake flowfield is carefully surveyed at six cross-flow planes located over a distance of 6 wing spans using advanced hot-wire anemometry. The results obtained include velocity, vorticity and Reynolds stress fields and spectral densities. Specific wake vortex instability mechanisms were analyzed while vortex meandering acts as a broad-band turbulence phenomenon.

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