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Shock Effects on Delta Wing Vortex Breakdown

Lucy A. Schiavetta, United States Air Force Academy
Okko J. Boelens, United States Air Force Academy
Simone Crippa, United States Air Force Academy
Russell M. Cummings, United States Air Force Academy
Willy Fritz, United States Air Force Academy
Ken J. Badcock, United States Air Force Academy

Article comments

Chapter 29. Copyright © 2009 NATO Research and Technology Organisation. The definitive version is available at http://www.rta.nato.int/Pubs/RDP.asp?RDP=RTO-TR-AVT-113.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Russell M. Cummings was on sabbatical leave from Cal Poly.

Abstract

It has been observed that delta wings placed in a transonic freestream can experience a sudden movement of the vortex breakdown location as the angle of incidence is increased. The chapter reports on the use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to examine this behaviour in detail. The study shows that a shock-vortex interaction is responsible. The balance of the vortex strength and axial flow, and the shock strength, is examined to provide an explanation of the sensitivity of the breakdown location. Limited experimental data is available to supplement the CFD results in certain key respects, and the ideal synergy between CFD and experiments for this problem is considered.

Suggested Citation

Lucy A. Schiavetta, Okko J. Boelens, Simone Crippa, Russell M. Cummings, Willy Fritz, and Ken J. Badcock. "Shock Effects on Delta Wing Vortex Breakdown" Report: Understanding and Modeling Vortical Flows to Improve the Technology Readiness Level for Military Aircraft (2009): 1-26.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rcumming/53