Discrete-vortex simulation of flow over inclined and normal plates

Abstract

The wake flow behind a normal or an inclined plate is predicted by a discrete-vortex method. The vortex shedding phenomenon at the leading and the trailing edges is simulated by a vorticity creation technique according to the Kutta condition. This approach required that the strengths and locations of discrete vortices just shed from the edges be determined such that their presence in the flow field will offset the potential flow singularities at the edges of the plate. For gross features in the flow, the current model closely reproduced the measured values of previous experiments. As to the microscopic features in the wake flow, the predictions by the current model compare favorably with the experiments and with the previous solutions also by discrete-vortex simulation. For similar or better solutions, this approach requires about half of the computing time reported by other discrete-vortex approaches. © 1988.