The near-field (up to three chord lengths) development of a wing-tip vortex is investigated both numerically and experimentally. The research was conducted in a medium speed wind tunnel on a NACA 0012 square tip half-wing at a Reynolds number of 3.2 × 105. A full Reynolds stress turbulence model with a hybrid unstructured grid was used to compute the wing-tip vortex in the near field while an x-wire anemometer and five-hole probe recorded the experimental results. The mean flow of the computed vortex was in good agreement with experiment as the circulation parameter was within 6% of the experimental value at x/ c = 0 for α = 10° and the crossflow velocity magnitude was within 1% of the experimental value at x/ c = 1 for α = 5°. The trajectory of the computed vortex was also in good agreement as it had moved inboard by the same amount (10% chord) as the experimental vortex at the last measurement location. The axial velocity excess is under predicted for α = 10°, whereas the velocity deficit is in relatively good agreement for α = 5°. The computed Reynolds shear stress component 〈 u′v′〉 is in good agreement with experiment at x/ c = 0 for α = 5°, but is greatly under predicted further downstream and at all locations for α = 10°. It is thought that a lack of local grid refinement in the vortex core and deficiencies in the Reynolds stress turbulence model may have led to errors in the mean flow and turbulence results respectively.
Numerical and experimental investigation of the mean and turbulent characteristics of a wing-tip vortex in the near field