FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES OF 
VORTEX INTERACTIONS

Edge of vortex core interacts with boundary layer. From AIAA95-2236

Army Research Office / Joint Project with Ohio State University

Raghav Mahalingam and Narayanan Komerath

Twelve years of research effort has broken down the complex problem of rotorcraft aerodynamic interactions and enabled prediction of the dominant phenomena. We now try to understand the transient interaction between a strong curved vortex and a curved surface, coordinating pointwise and planar diagnostics with a computational effort at Ohio State (Prof. A. T. Conlisk). Applications include rotorcraft, wind turbines, runway safety, separation distances between aircraft, flow unsteadiness over wings at high angles of attack, and riverbed erosion. Current research deals with the initiation of three-dimensional unsteady flow separation, on configurations such as a wingtip vortex interacting with a downstream airfoil, and a rotor tip vortex colliding with a cylinder.

Related Papers, Presentations and Reports :

Final Report, Vortex Surface Collisions, December 1997 ( Click here to view the instantaneous pressure distribution on the airframe )

Mahalingam, R., Komerath, N.M., Funk, R.B., Kim, J.M., "Three- dimensional vortex-surface interaction", 7th Asian Fluid Dynamics Congress, Madras, India,
December 1997.

Mahalingam, R., Radcliff, T., Conlisk, A.T., Komerath, N.M., "Vortex-Surface Collision : 3-D Core Flow Effects", AIAA Paper 97- 1785, 28th Fluid Dynamics
Conference, Snowmass, CO June 1997.

Mahalingam, R., Funk, R. B., and Komerath, N. M., "Low-Speed Canard-Tip-Vortex Interaction", SAE Transactions paper no. 971469. (presentation made at the SAE GCRAM 97' conference   )

Mahalingam, R., Funk, R.B., Komerath, N.M., "Flow Visualization of Low-Speed Perpendicular Vortex-Airfoil Interaction". AIAA Paper 96-2387, 14th Applied Aerodynamics Conference, New Orleans, LA June 1996.

Mahalingam, R., Komerath, N.M., "Rotor Tip Vortex / Airframe Collision Effects on the Vortex and Airframe". AIAA Paper 96-2013, 27th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, New Orleans, LA, June 1996.

Mahalingam, R., Peterson, K.G., Funk, R.B., Komerath, N.M. Conlisk, A.T., "Recent Experiments on Vortex Collision with a Cylinder". Invited Paper, AIAA 95-2236, 26th Fluid Dynamics Conference, San Diego, CA, June 1995.  ( presentation )

Kim, J.M., and Komerath, N.M., "Summary of the Interaction of a Rotor Wake and a Circular Cylinder". AIAA Journal Vol. 33, No. 3, March 1995, p. 470-478.
 

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