Numerical Investigation of Wingtip Vortex Attenuation Using a Tip-Chipped Wing

Abstract

The attenuation of wingtip/blade vortices has been one of the primary concerns in aviation safety and blade-vortex noise. In an effort to effectively dissipate the vortex intensity, a trailing-edge (TE) chipped wing concept was suggested. In this study, to exploit the potential of the chipped wingtip concept for alleviating the tip vortex, a series of numerical simulations are conducted. The numerical simulations are performed using open source code, OpenFOAM. The wake structures are measured for different wingtip shapes. The chip depth and location are varied to evaluate the vortex alleviation rate and aerodynamic characteristics. As a result of numerical simulation, it is confirmed that the vortex dissipation rate of the tip-chipped wing is higher than that of a TE-chipped wing. For the tip-chipped wing, the counter-rotating vortex is found to be strong enough to weaken the primary vortex. The dissipation rate increases as the location of the chip gets closer to the leading-edge, and as the depth of the chip increases. A trade-off relationship between vortex alleviation and an increase in drag is confirmed. For example, the MID D3 attenuates the strength of the wingtip vortex by 51%, while the drag is increased within 5%.