Abstract
The nature of turbulence within wing-tip vortices has been a topic of research for decades, yet accurate measurements of Reynolds stresses within the core are inherently difficult due to the bulk motion wandering caused by initial and boundary conditions in wind tunnels. As a result, characterization of a vortex as laminar or turbulent is inconclusive and highly contradicting. This research uses several experimental techniques to study the effects of broadband turbulence, introduced within the wing boundary layer, on the development of wing-tip vortices. Two rectangular wings with a NACA 0012 profile were fabricated for the use of this research. One wing had a smooth finish and the other rough, introduced by P80 grade sandpaper. Force balance measurements showed a small reduction in wing performance due to surface roughness for both 2D and 3D configurations, although stall characteristics remained relatively unchanged. Seven-hole probes were purpose-built and used to assess the mean velocity profiles of the vortices five chord lengths downstream of the wing at multiple angles of attack. Above an incidence of 4 degrees, the vortices were nearly axisymmetric, and the wing roughness reduced both velocity gradients and peak velocity magnitudes within the vortex. Laser Doppler velocimetry was used to further assess the time-resolved vortex at an incidence of 5 degrees. Evidence of wake shedding frequencies and wing shear layer instabilities at higher frequencies were seen in power spectra within the vortex. Unlike the introduction of freestream turbulence, wing surface roughness did not appear to increase wandering amplitude. A new method for removing the effects of vortex wandering is proposed with the use of carefully selected high-pass filters. The filtered data revealed that the Reynolds stress profiles of the vortex produced by the smooth and rough wing were similar in shape, with a peak occurring away from the vortex centre but inside of the core. Single hot-wire measurements in the 2D wing wake revealed the potential origin of dominant length-scales observed in the vortex power spectra. At angles above 5 degrees, the 2D wing wake had both higher velocity deficits and higher levels of total wake kinetic energy for the rough wing as compared to the smooth wing.