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Ultrasonic Method for Aircraft Wake Vortex Detection

Rebecca J. Rodenhiser, Worcester State College
William W. Durgin, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Hamid Johari, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/1.25060.

Reprinted with permission of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. Publisher website: http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=2.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author William Durgin was not yet affiliated with Cal Poly.

Abstract

This paper describes the experimental proof of concept study for an ultrasonic method of wake vortex detection. This new acoustic method uses travel time of acoustic pulses around a closed path to measure the net circulation within the acoustic path. In this application the closed path encloses the vorticity shed from one side of a Piper PA-28 aircraft wing. Magnitude and sign of circulation detected is comparable to the expected circulation generated by the Piper PA-28 test aircraft. This study demonstrates the validity of the acoustic method in detecting aircraft wake vortices. Further investigations and applications using this technique are discussed.

Suggested Citation

Rebecca J. Rodenhiser, William W. Durgin, and Hamid Johari. "Ultrasonic Method for Aircraft Wake Vortex Detection" Journal of Aircraft 44.3 (2007): 726-732.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/wdurgin/64

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