Abstract

Time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted of a wing-tip vortex decaying in free-stream turbulence. The objective of the research was to experimentally investigate the mechanism causing the increased rate of decay of the vortex in the presence of turbulence. It was observed that the circulation of the vortex core experienced periods of rapid loss and recovery when immersed in free-stream turbulence. These events were not observed when the vortex was in a laminar free stream. A connection was made between these events and distortion of the vortex, coinciding with stripping of core fluid from the vortex core. Specifically, vortex stripping events were connected to asymmetry in the vortex core, and this asymmetry was associated with instances of rapid circulation loss. The increased rate of decay of the vortex in turbulence coincided with the formation of secondary vortical structures which wrapped azimuthally around the primary vortex.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-16-2018

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Physical Review Fluids, v. 3, issue 3, 034702, p. 1-11.

©2018 American Physical Society

The copyright holder has granted the permission for posting the article here.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.3.034702

Share

COinS