Nonplanar Vortex Lattice Method for Analysis of Complex Multiple Lifting Surfaces

摘要

A method for determining the aerodynamic characteristics of complex multiple lifting surfaces in inviscid subcritical flows was developed and programmed on a UNIVAC 1100/60 computer. Each lifting surface is represented by a network of nonplanar horse shoe vortices distributed on the mean surface and trailing to infinity. The strengths of these vortices are determined by requiring the flow to be parallel to the surface at a number of control points. The force due to a vortex segment is calculated as the vector product of local velocity and the vortex strength multiplied by density. The program can handle wings with breaks and spanwise segmented flaps in leading and trailing edges, local dihedral, camber, and twist. The code can be used to compute lift, induced drag, and pitching moments for any lifting planar or nonplanar surfaces and surfaces in combination like wing-canard or wing-horizontal tail. The program was validated for a number of configurations for which experimental data is available.