Flow around a small-sized UAV model in a turbulent trace

Abstract

In a subsonic wind tunnel, a flow pattern was visualized on the surface of a flying wing in a narrow turbulent trace. The obtained results are compared with the data on the flow past a wing in a free flow outside the trace. The experiments were carried out in two variants of flow around: at zero angle of attack, when there are local detachable bubbles on the wing, and at a large (supercritical) angle of attack of 18 degrees, when there is a global stall from the leading edge. It is shown that in both cases significant changes in the flow patterns on the wing surface are observed under the influence of a turbulent trace. Local detachable bubbles are reduced until they disappear completely. Large-scale vortices on the surface of the wing decrease in size in case of global stall, and the zone of the uninterrupted attached flow increases.