Control of a Nacelle Inlet Ground Vortex in Crossflow

What is it about?

The formation of a ground vortex at the inlet of a cylindrical nacelle operating in suction near a ground plane in the presence of crosswind is significantly delayed in wind tunnel experiments using aerodynamic bleed. It is shown that azimuthally symmetric or asymmetric bleed configurations can significantly delay the ground vortex formation - utilization of about 21% global porosity over the upper inlet surface can delay the vortex formation to over 300% of the required dimensionless inlet momentum flux in the absence of control. Moreover, the circulation of a ground vortex that eventually forms in the presence of the asymmetric bleed actuation is reduced by nearly 40% compared to the corresponding ground vortex in the absence of control.

Featured Image