INVESTIGATION OF VORTEX STRUCTURES ON DELTA-WINGS

Results of experimental and computational investigations of the flow a round delta wings with both round and sharp leading edges are presente d. The experiments were carried out in the low speed- and the superson ic wind tunnel of the Aerodynamisches Institut of the RWTH Aachen. The laser-light-sheet technique together with smoke injection was used to visualize the details of the vortex structures developing, with incre asing angle of attack, on the leeward side of two different delta wing s: the ELAC I and a configuration with the same planform, but a sharp leading edge. The results indicate clearly the influence of the nose r adius on the vortex formation. These investigations were completed by oilflow patterns. In the numerical simulation a solution of the parabo lized Navier-Stokes equations was constructed with a space marching te chnique for three-dimensional supersonic flow The computations were ca rried out for a freestream Mach-number M(infinity) = 2. The computed v ortex structures exhibit a remarkable similarity to those observed in the low speed experiments.