Validation of a Model for Estimating the Strength of a Vortex Created from the Bound Circulation of a Vortex Generator

Martin O. L. Hansen, Antonis Charalampous, Jean-Marc Foucaut, Christophe Cuvier and Clara M. Velte
Additional contact information
Martin O. L. Hansen: Department of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Antonis Charalampous: ON TE PD5X LACS LC LOADS Department, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (RDT Engineers), 7330 Brande, Denmark
Jean-Marc Foucaut: Univ. Lille, CNRS, ONERA, Centrale Lille, Arts et Metiers ParisTech, FRE2017, Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides de Lille - Kampé de Fériet (LMFL), F-59000 Lille, France
Christophe Cuvier: Univ. Lille, CNRS, ONERA, Centrale Lille, Arts et Metiers ParisTech, FRE2017, Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides de Lille - Kampé de Fériet (LMFL), F-59000 Lille, France
Clara M. Velte: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: A hypothesis was tested and validated for predicting the vortex strength induced by a vortex generator in wall-bounded flow by combining the knowledge of the Vortex Generator (VG) geometry and the approaching boundary layer velocity distribution. In this paper, the spanwise distribution of bound circulation on a vortex generator was computed by integrating the pressure force along the VG height, calculated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). It was then assumed that all this bound circulation was shed into a wake to fulfill Helmholtz’s theorem which then curls up into one primary tip vortex. To validate this, the trailed circulation estimated from the distribution of the bound circulation was compared to the one in the wake behind the vortex generator, determined directly from the wake velocities at some downstream distance. In practical situations, the pressure distribution on a vane is unknown and consequently other estimates of the spanwise force distribution on a VG must instead be applied, such as using 2D airfoil data corresponding to the VG geometry at each wall-normal distance. Such models have previously been proposed and used as an engineering tool to aid preliminary VG design. Therefore, it is not the purpose of this paper to refine such engineering models, but rather to validate their assumptions, such as applying a lifting line model on a VG that has a very low aspect ratio and is placed in a wall boundary layer. Herein, high Reynolds number boundary layer measurements of VG-induced flow were used to validate the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) model circulation results, which were used for further illustration and validation of the hypothesis.

Keywords: vortex generators; turbulent boundary layer flow control; bound circulation; trailed circulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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