Numerical Simulation of Inviscid Incompressible Two-Dimensional Airfoil-Vortex Interaction in Ground Effect

A numerical inviscid vortex method is employed to study the unsteady, two-dimensional,incompressible flow that occurs during an airfoil- vortex interaction in the vicinity of a ground plane. The airfoil bound vorticity is modeled using a panel method with linear piecewise-continuous vorticity distribution. The vortex is considered to be a point vortex , and the ground effect is obtained using the method of images. Point vortices are also generated at the airfoil trailing edge to ensure that circulation is conserved and that the Kutta condition is satisfied. All vortices are convected using a first-order Lagrangian time-marching scheme. After code validation, numerical results for the airfoil- vortex interaction in ground effect reveal that the loading on the airfoil is affected by the thickness, angle of a ttack, and height of the airfoil above the ground, as well as the vortex strength, direction of rotation, and distance to the a irfoil. The wake evolution is nonlinear and strongly inuenced by the interaction, whereas the pressure distribution on the ground presents steep adverse gradients.