Experimental and numerical study of the wake behind a wing with a NACA0012 airfoil and comparison with theoretical models at moderate Reynolds numbers

Axial wing tip vortex characterization is a relevant issue not only from a theoretical point of view but also due to its interest in control engineering applications. An experimental study has been performed displacing a NACA0012 wing model at moderate Reynolds numbers in a towing tank and we have measured the velocity field at every cross section in the tank axial direction by PIV. Besides, numerical simulations were carried out in the same conditions by means of the software OpenFOAM. These experimental and numerical results show the vorticity evolution in the vortex core center, describing the vortex intensity decay along with the model movement. Both, experimental and numerical results were compared with the theoretical models proposed by Batchelor1 and Moore and Saffman2 in order to compute their parameters for the trailing vortex along the axial coordinate. The theoretical models above have been modified by introducing a new parameter which represents a virtual origin in the axial coordinate, according with C. del Pino et al.3 We have also compared the numerical and experimental results to asses the reliability of them. It has been observed a precise agreement between both results, as shown in figure 1. It has been also studied the evolution of the theoretical model parameters with the Reynolds number aiming to get a fitted model, from which to analyze the vortex stability.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech