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Wingtip vortices are circular patterns of rotating air left behind a wing as it generates lift. [1]: 5.14 The name is a misnomer because the cores of the vortices are slightly inboard of the wing tips. [2]: 369 Wingtip vortices are sometimes named trailing or lift-induced vortices because they also occur at points other than at the wing tips.
These small vortices merge to form a single wingtip vortex, less than one wing chord downstream of that edge. This phenomenon also occurs with other active airfoils, such as propeller blades. On the other hand, two parallel vortices with opposite circulations (such as the two wingtip vortices of an airplane) tend to remain separate.
When the vortices of larger aircraft sink close to the ground — within 100–200 ft (30–61 m) — they tend to move laterally over the ground at a speed of 2–3 kn (3.7–5.6 km/h; 2.3–3.5 mph). A crosswind decreases the lateral movement of the upwind vortex and increases the movement of the downwind vortex. [4]
Wingtip vortices form a major component of wake turbulence and are associated with induced drag, which is a significant contributor to total drag in most regimes. A closed wing avoids the need for wingtips and thus might be expected to reduce wingtip drag effects.
As a wing generates lift, it causes a vortex to form at the wingtip, and at the tip of the flap when deployed (wingtips and flap boundaries represent discontinuities in airflow). These wingtip vortices persist in the atmosphere long after the aircraft has passed. The reduction in pressure and temperature across each vortex can cause water to ...
These vortices are known as wingtip vortices and are formed by fluid flowing around the wingtips from the high-pressure region that is the bottom of the wing to the low-pressure region that is the top of the wing. The flow becomes separated from the airfoil and rotates about a low pressure wake that forms the core of the vortex.
A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of shapes, including: Squared-off; Aluminium tube bow; Rounded; Hoerner style; Winglets; Drooped tips; Raked ...
Image showing formation of vortices behind the leading edge of a delta wing at high angle of attack A cloud of smoke shows the roll-up of the vortex sheet shed from the whole trailing edge of a wing producing lift from attached flow, with its core aligned with the wing tip. Vortex lift has an additional vortex close to the body when shed by a ...