Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
Wingtip devices help prevent the flow around the wingtip of higher pressure air under the wing flowing to the lower pressure surface on top at the wingtip, which results in a vortex caused by the forward motion of the aircraft. Winglets also reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices and improve lift-to-drag ratio.
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 ...
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]
Winglet: a small fin at the wingtip, usually turned upwards. Reduces the size of vortices shed by the wingtip, and hence also tip drag. Strake: a small surface, typically longer than it is wide and mounted on the fuselage. Strakes may be located at various positions in order to improve aerodynamic behaviour.
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.
English: Lift-induced vortices (also called wingtip or trailing vortices) are evidenced by colored smoke on the threshold of a runway, during a demonstration flight run by the German DLR with its ATTAS aircraft.
On aircraft with swept wings, wing tip stall also produces an undesirable nose-up pitching moment which hampers recovery from the stall. Washout may be accomplished by other means e.g. modified aerofoil section, vortex generators, leading edge wing fences, notches, or stall strips. This is referred to as aerodynamic washout.