292 AIAA JOURNAL VOL. 20, NO.

AIAA 82-4059

Trapping of a Free Vortex by Joukowski Airfoils

Ming-Ke Huang* and Chuen-Yen Chowf
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

The ability of trapping a free vortex by a Joukowski airfoil in its vicinity for lift augmentation is investigated
through a two-dimensional potential flow analysis. The effects of angle of attack, thickness, and camber on the
trapping performance of the airfoil are examined separately. It is found that to capture a vortex which is stable
to small disturbances, the proper arrangement is to have a rather thick symmetric airfoil at a small angle of
attack.

I. Introduction culation K is placed above the airfoil, it induces a reversed

fluid motion on the upper surface, so that a stagnation point
T HE lift on a wing can be enhanced by placing an
would appear there if the same circulation were maintained
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organized vortex in the vicinity of the wing. A well-

known example is the additional lift produced by the vortex around the airfoil. The flow pattern is sketched in Fig. Ib.
sheets rolling up along leading edges of a delta wing flying at However, to remove the infinite-velocity situation at the sharp
large angles of attack. Spanwise vortices could be generated edge, additional circulation AF has to be generated to shift the
and maintained on the upper surface of a large-aspect-ratio stagnation point back to the trailing edge so the Kutta con-
wing by deploying some specially designed flaps, as suggested dition is fulfilled again. A vortex of circulation - AF is shed
by Kasper1 who claimed that a lift coefficient of 3.15 had in the wake as shown in Fig. Ic, and the wing has thus gained
been achieved by a glider based on such a design. Despite the a lift of p/(AF + K) per unit span. The dependence of the
contradictory results from different wind tunnel tests of the increased lift on the strength and position of the vortex is one
Kasper wing, 2 ' 3 Rossow4 demonstrated, both analytically and of the main concerns of the present work.
experimentally, that it was possible to trap a span wise vortex When the steady state for a given airfoil configuration has
over the upper surface of a wing by using a vertical flap near been reached, we determine the stationary equilibrium
the leading edge while a suction was applied along the vortex locations of the external vortex and compute the associated
axis. The lift coefficient of such a wing could reach as high as lift. Furthermore, the stability of the vortex at each of its
10 with a proper combination of the flap configuration and equilibrium positions is examined. Our analysis is made for a
the suction strength. steady two-dimensional flow past an airfoil, under the
As shown by experimental data,2'3 a large increase in drag assumption that the fluid is inviscid and incompressible. The
is inevitably accompanied with augmented lift when flaps are vortex-induced drag cannot be computed using this model.
used to maintain the vortex in a realistic viscous fluid. This
drag is expected to diminish with decreasing flap size. Saff- II. Flow about Joukowski Airfoil
man and Sheffield5 made an analysis of a flat-plate airfoil, Referring to Fig. 2, we consider the transformations
which showed that at suitable locations a line vortex might
become stationary relative to the airfoil without the help of
flaps. The vortex was stable to small disturbances at some of (1)
the equilibrium locations, and according to their theoretical
investigation, the vortex-augmented lift was significant.
Sheffield6 also examined the vortex-trapping abilities of some
Joukowski airfoil profiles.
The works of Saffman and Sheffield5'6 suggest utilizing the
geometry of the airfoil as a method of capturing a line vortex
for generation of high lift. This method is relatively simple
and, unlike the Kasper's method involving additional flaps,
will not cause a tremendous increase of drag on the wing when
flying through a viscous fluid. In the present work we con-
sider a general Joukowski airfoil and make an extensive study
on the effects of angle of attack, thickness, and camber on the
vortex-trapping capability of the airfoil, in the hope of find-
ing some criteria for designing airfoils which efficiently
generate high vortex lift.
The sketches in Fig. 1 explain how an external vortex can
increase the lift on an airfoil. Figure la shows an airfoil flying
at speed (/through an incompressible fluid of density p. To
satisfy the Kutta condition at the sharp trailing edge, a cir-
culation F is created around the airfoil, which gives rise to a
lift of pUT per unit span of the wing. When a vortex of cir-

Received Feb. 3, 1981; revision received Aug. 17, 1981. Copyright

r+Ar
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1981. Fig. 1 Flow about an airfoil: a) in the absence of an external vortex,
All rights reserved. b) in the presence of an external vortex but keeping the same cir-
* Visiting Scholar, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. culation around the airfoil, c) in the presence of an external vortex
fProfessor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. Member AIAA. with the Kutta condition satisfied at the sharp trailing edge.
 MARCH 1982 TRAPPING OF A FREE VORTEX BY JOUKOWSKI AIRFOILS 293

(10)
df

Our mathematical problem is now stated as follows. For a

given airfoil (with specified 5 and JK) at a given angle of attack
a, we will determine the position z0 (-X0 + iy0) and the
strength K of the free vortex and the circulation F around the
airfoil, under the constraint that the vortex becomes
stationary and the Kutta condition is satisfied at the trailing
edge of the airfoil. Note that the F described here is equivalent
to the sum F + AF in Fig. Ic in the steady state when the wake
Fig. 2 Transformation of the flow about a circle in the plane into vortex is carried to infinity.
that about an airfoil in the z plane.
III. Condition for the Free Vortex
to Become Stationary
(2) The complex velocity of the free vortex is
in which z=x+iy, f= + /??, and f ' = ' + / i ? ' are complex
variables. These transformations map the circle of radius a dw
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centered at the origin of the f' plane into a Joukowski airfoil

in the physical z plane, whose chord is generally greater than 2
but is equal to 2 when the airfoil has the form of a flat plate.
In particular, the point f = 1 is mapped into the sharp trailing ?0-l
edge of the airfoil. The shape of the airfoil is controlled by
varying the parameters 6 and ju. For example, the generally
cambered airfoil becomes a symmetric airfoil when jLt = 7r, it f ' - f ^ dz z-
becomes a circular arc when /* = 7r/2, and it reduces to a flat
plate if 6 = 0. The radius a of the circle and the angle 0 shown
in Fig. 2 can be expressed in terms of these two parameters as Taylor's series expansion about the point fo results in

(3)

(4)
I dCQSjJL /

These expressions will be used in the later analysis.

Under the same transformations between f and z planes, a
which give the limiting value of -2f 0 /(f^-l) 2 for the ex-
uniform flow of speed U={/2 making an angle a with the
pression contained within the second square brackets in Eq.
horizontal axis maps into a uniform flow of speed U= 1
without changing its orientation; and a vortex of circulation K (11).
To require that the vortex be stationary we obtain, by
at f 0 maps into a vortex of the same strength situated at z 0 ,
equating the right-hand side of Eq. (11) to zero,
where
to = & + de . (5)
to
^=Poei9o (6)
(12)
Let w = $ + M be the complex potential of the flow, in
which $ is the velocity potential and ^ is the stream function.
The complex potential is first written in the f' plane, which After substituting f 0 and f^ from Eqs. (5) and (6) and
consists of the contributions from the uniform flow, the separating it into real and imaginary parts, Eq. (12) becomes
vortex and its image in the circle, and the circulation about the
center of the circle.
r R3=0 (13)
1
= -2e->(r + y- 7T 7T

r K
(14)
-iog(r -a' (7)
in which
7T ' 7T

2
in which a bar is used to denote the complex conjugate. a \
The complex velocity of the flow about the airfoil is then ( P -
0
Po
)cos(0 ~a)
/ 0
derived from Eq. (7)
da2
r (15)
dw dw dw / dz Po
(8)
^_
where (16)
Po
dvv _ 7 7
dp = ^e~la~2 R3 =
da2
r-sin(/z-0
P20-a2)
1/ 1 1\
0)-- ( - )
2\S1 S2/
Po(Po-
(9)
(17)
 294 M.-K. HUANG ANDC.-Y. CHOW AIAA JOURNAL

a2 \ V. Method of Solution
= (PO+ lsin(0 0 -a)+5sin(ji-a)
On / We now have three algebraic equations, Eqs. (13), (14), and
(23), for three of the four unknowns AC, F, p0, and 60. The
da2 system of equations can be rearranged in a more convenient
(18)
Po form. Equations (13) and (14) are first combined to obtain
_d_ (19) F
Po (27)
7T R2I3-R3I2

K " R, TR )
(28)
7T

x (20)
Upon substitution into Eq. (23) a single equation results
where
+2p0dcos([j,-eo) -2p0cos00-2dcosn (21)
sin (a + 0) -I-
S2 = 1 +p20 + d2 (22)
2a R2I3-R3I2 (i")
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IV. Kutta Condition at the Trailing Edge (29)

R R R2I3-R3I2
The Joukowski airfoil has a cusp at the trailing edge where
the upper and lower surfaces are tangent. The Kutta condition
for this type of edge is that the velocity there is finite. It which contains only two variables p0 and 00. The problem is
demands in Eq. (8) that d w / d f ' = 0 at f = l , that is, at solved according to the following procedure.
f =ae-& as indicated in Fig. 2. Starting from Eq. (9) and For a set of assumed values of a, 6, and jn, the values of a
after some manipulation, this requirement becomes and j3 are calculated from Eqs. (3) and (4), and the airfoil
shape is drawn by mapping the circle of radius a at the origin
of the f' plane through the transformations Eqs. (1) and (2).
(23) We look for all possible locations at which a free vortex
becomes stationary by searching along the radial direction for
where each of the many values of B0 selected between 0 and 2ir. For a
given value of 00, if no value of p0 can be found that will
satisfy Eq. (29), it means that no vxortex can be trapped in that
direction. Otherwise, the coordinates (p0, B0) thus found are
P2o-<*2 (24)
used to compute the values of F and K from Eqs. (27) and (28)
2 2 and to determine the position (x0, y0) of the vortex in the
2a[p 0+a -2ap0cos(eo
physical plane using Eqs. (1) and (2). Loci of the free vortex
for both constant a and constant K are plotted in the vicinity
Let us go one step further to compute the velocity at the of the airfoil after throwing away the solution in which Vt <0.
trailing edge where the right-hand side of Eq. (8) has the To examine how the pressure distribution on the airfoil is
indeterminate form. The complex velocity at the trailing edge affected by the external vortex, we first find the velocity Fon
is then evaluated accordingly. the airfoil surface from transformation of the velocity on the
circle in the f' plane using Eq. (8). The pressure coefficient,
d2z which is defined as the pressure difference between the local
and a far-away station divided by the dynamic pressure at
infinity, is then computed from the formula
_ A27r (V r1- 1
-*2//
\ C =1-(V/U)2 (30)

The stream function is the imaginary part of the complex

(25)
\r- potential shown in Eq. (7). The method described in Ref. 7 is
used to plot the streamlines and pressure distribution around
the airfoil.
The expression is obtained by differentiating Eqs. (9) and (10) Applying the Blasius theorem to the present problem
and by using the fact that d2z/d2 = 1 at f = l . After sim- having a vortex outside the airfoil, we obtain a lift of
plified by the use of Eqs. (23) and (24), the result reveals that pU(T + K) per unit span of the wing. We define L as this lift
the velocity at the trailing edge makes an angle - 2/3 with the x divided by pU, so that
axis and has a magnitude
(31)
cos (a 2Posin(00
2 2
a P 0+a -2aPocos(eo

rr+Ac VI. Stability of the Free Vortex

(26) The equilibrium position of the free vortex at which the
vortex becomes stationary has been found. Extending the
analysis of Saffman and Sheffield5 for a flat plate, we will
A negative value of Vt means the direction of the flow at examine the stability of the vortex when it is perturbed from
the trailing edge is from the trailing to the leading edge, which the equilibrium position near an airfoil. The analysis is
is in contradiction to the situation in the present flow simplified by assuming two-dimensional disturbances of
problem. Thus the solution corresponding to Vt <0 is thrown small amplitudes, and by ignoring the shed vortices in the
away even if it satisfies the Kutta condition represented by Eq. wake after being disturbed so that the free vortex and bound
(23). vortex remain their original strength AC and F, respectively.
 MARCH 1982 TRAPPING OF A FREE VORTEX BY JOUKOWSKI AIRFOILS 295

The complex velocity of the free vortex is, from Eq. (1 1), neighborhood of 5 deg. For example, the case of a. = 0.1. rail
(or 5.73 deg) is presented in Ref. 5 r The figure also reveals
t2 [ . / a \1 : IK 1
that stronger vortices can be captured only at distances farther
1J 77; = - \P ~lci I I Pl<* away from the flat plate.
^-l(e \f)e rt'-a'/t' The sum T + K, which is proportional to the lift, is plotted
against y0 in Fig. 4 for constant values of a. Each of the
curves is cut off when F,=0, that is, when the trailing edge
7 becomes a stagnation point. The cut-off point represents the
maximum vortex lift that the flat plate can attain at a given
in which f and f' are related through Eq. (2), and Q(?o* f) = 0 angle of attack; whereas the lowest point on the same constant
in the equilibrium position f.' = f0. For a small displacement a curve, which occurs at y0 = 0 when K = 0, represents the lift
f; away from the equilibrium point f, we have in the absence of an external vortex. The plot shows that the
leading-edge vortices are more effective in generating lift, but
_ _ unfortunately they are not stable to small disturbances.
Nevertheless, considering the stable loci near the trailing edge
dr -dz d/ - d z e ( f ' n at 5 deg angle of attack, the maximum vortex-augmented lift
Taylor's expansion about ^ results in is about ten times the original lift on the flat-plate airfoil.
Plots of some representative streamline patterns and
pressure distributions are referred to in Ref. 5.
(33)
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VIII. Results for Symmetric Airfoils

where With jLt = 7r, several symmetric airfoils have been con-
structed by varying 5. Presented first are the results for the
A= airfoil with 6 = 0.15, whose shape is shown in Fig. 5 having a
ft
chord of 2.035.
For solutions of Eq. (33) having the form eat,\ve must have
25
,4,4 = 0 (35)

It turns out that B is purely imaginary so that B + = 0. In-

stability occurs when a has a positive real part. Thus a
stability condition is deduced from Eq. (35) which requires
that
15
IBI (36)
TRAILING
EDGE LOCI
The complex expressions for A and B are obtained in a 10
straightforward manner after differentiating Eqs. (1) and
(32).

VII. Results for the Flat Plate

It can be^shown that our analysis reduces to that of Saff-
man and Sheffield5 for a flat plate by letting 6 = 0. The results
presented in this section are merely used to complement their 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25
previous work.
Fig. 4 Lift on the flat-plate wing as a function of height y0 of the
The equilibrium positions (x0, y0) of the free vortex are vortex captured above the wing for various angles of attack.
plotted in Fig. 3 for both constant a and constant K. There are
two regions in which a vortex can be captured; the area of the
leading-edge region is much larger than that of the trailing- vt = o
edge region. However, the vortex is unstable at all loci except
at those along the upper portion of the a = 5-deg curve above
the point marked by a cross near the trailing edge. Of course
there exist other stable loci for angles of attack in the

1.5

1.0

0.5

a =0'

-1.0 1.0 Fig. 5 Loci of free-vortex equilibrium position for the symmetric
Fig. 3 Loci of free-vortex equilibrium position plotted for both airfoil with n = ir and 5 = 0.15. Below the trailing edge, the vortex is
constant a and constant K for the flat-plate wing; the vortex is stable stable on the entire a = 0- and 5-deg curves and to the right of the cross
along the a = 5 deg curve above the point marked by a cross. on a = 10- and 15-deg curves.
 296 M.-K. HUANG AND C.-Y. CHOW AIAA JOURNAL

Loci of free-vortex equilibrium positions plotted in Fig. 5 arrangement that the vortex is at the point (-0.631, 0.515)
show that, for positive angles of attack, vortices of clockwise and the angle of attack is 5 deg. The corresponding pressure
and counterclockwise circulations can be trapped above and distribution on the surface of this airfoil is plotted in Fig. 10
below the wing, respectively. This property is different from to compare with that on the same airfoil but without the
that of the flat plate, below which no vortex can be trapped. A external vortex. It shows that on the upper surface of the
blown-up plot of the region above the trailing edge is shown in airfoil, there exists an extremely low-pressure region below
Fig. 6. The vortex is still unstable in the leading-edge region the vortex, which is followed by a high-pressure region up to
either above or below the airfoil, but may become stabilized the trailing edge. The pressure change on the lower surface of
near the trailing edge. Increasing angle of attack has a the airfoil caused by the vortex is relatively small. The vortex-
destabilizing effect, and the area occupied by the stable loci augmented lift, which is 2.27 times the lift of the airfoil in the
above the airfoil is much larger than that above the flat plate. absence of the vortex, is mainly attributed to the low pressure
The lift as a function of height y0 is plotted in Fig. 7 for under the vortex. Note that a strong nose-up moment about
vortices trapped above the wing, and in Fig. 8 for those the midchord results from such a pressure distribution.
trapped below it. For vortices above the wing, the general Figure 11 depicts the flow pattern when a vortex of
trend is that the maximum lift generated from a leading-edge coordinates (0.746, 0.180) becomes stationary near the
position of the symmetric airfoil is higher than that of the flat trailing edge of the airfoil at a = 5 deg. A stagnation point
plate at the same angle of attack, whereas the opposite is true occurs at the trailing edge, corresponding to the maximum-lift
considering the trailing-edge positions. Figure 8 shows that arrangement for that angle of attack. The pressure
lift decreases when a vortex of counterclockwise circulation is distribution on the surface is plotted in Fig. 12. The extremely
trapped below the wing. Such a case therefore is not in- low-pressure region below the vortex still appears in addition
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teresting for practical applications. to the low-pressure region near the leading edge on the upper
A representative flow pattern with a vortex trapped in a surface. In this case the moment about the midchord is in the
leading-edge position is shown in Fig. 9, plotted for the nose-down sense.

0.4 -

o.i -

i.o

Fig. 6 Blown-up view of the region above trailing edge of Fig. 5. The
vortex is stable on the entire a = 0-deg curve and above the point
marked by a cross on each of the other constant a curves. The cross on
the a = 5-deg curve, being very close to the trailing edge, is not shown.
It is unstable on the entire a = 30-deg curve.

-5
Fig. 8 Lift on the symmetric airfoil as a function of the vertical
coordinate y0 of the vortex captured below the wing for various angles
of attack. Solid lines are for the leading-edge loci and dashed lines are
for the trailing-edge loci.

Fig. 7 Lift on the symmetric airfoil as a function of the vertical Fig. 9 Streamline pattern for vortex of coordinates (- 0.631, 0.515)
coordinate y0 of the vortex captured above the wing for various angles on leading-edge locus of symmetric airfoil (n = ir, 5 = 0.15) at 5-deg
of attack. angle of attack.
 MARCH 1982 TRAPPING OF A FREE VORTEX BY JOUKOWSKI AIRFOILS 297

- 14--

- I2 - -

-10--

Fig. 12 Pressure distribution on the airfoil described in Fig. 11.

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I.O--

Fig. 10 Pressure distribution on the airfoil described in Fig. 9 (solid

curve) in comparison with that on the same airfoil in the absence of an
external vortex for a = 5 deg (dashed curve). 0.5 -- 8=0
(STABLE)A0.05
0.10
0.15

-1.0

1.5

LEADING EDGE LOCI

8 = 0.15,
1.0 0.10,
O.C

Fig. 11 Streamline pattern for vortex of coordinates (0.746, 0.180) T R A I L I N G EDGE

on trailing-edge locus of a symmetric airfoil (/* = ir, 6 = 0.15) at 5-deg 0.5 LOCI
angle of attack.
0.05
^0.10
-0.15
Keeping JU = TT but decreasing 6 from 0.15 to 0, a series of J________I_____
symmetric airfoils of almost the same chord but of decreasing 10 15
thickness is generated. Based on the computations for a
constant angle of attack of 0.1 rad, Fig. 13 shows that
Fig. 13 Loci of free vortex and lift for symmetric airfoils of different
with decreasing thickness, the trailing-edge stability range thickness at a = 0.1 rad.
shortens, the maximum lift on the leading-edge locus
decreases whereas that on the trailing-edge locus increases. In
other words, a thicker airfoil has a higher ability of stably leading edge for all values of 6. Near the trailing edge,
trapping a vortex on the upper surface, but the price paid for however, there is a short stability range on the loci for the flat
this advantage is the lower maximum lift that can be plate with 6 = 0, while the loci for the three nonvanishing
generated on the wing. values of 6 that we have chosen are all unstable.
Cambered airfoils of almost the same thickness are con-
IX. Results for Circular-Arc Airfoils structed from mapping of the circle in Fig. 2 by varying the
and Cambered Airfoils angle /3 while keeping the radius a at a constant value of, say,
The transformations Eqs. (1) and (2) map the circle in Fig. 2 1.15. A higher value of & gives a larger camber and a slightly
into a circular arc if ju = ?r/2, whose curvature increases with shorter chord. For given values of a and 0, the corresponding
increasing 5. The results obtained for four values of 6 are values of d and //, needed in the computation are obtained
presented in Fig. 14 at a. = 0.1 rad. As the curvature (or the from Eqs. (3) and (4). The conclusion on the variation of the
camber) of the circular-arc airfoil increases, the maximum lift maximum lift with camber is the same as that for circular-arc
on the leading-edge locus increases but that on the trailing- airfoils, which are in fact cambered airfoils of vanishing
edge locus decreases. No stability locus is found near the thickness, as shown in Fig. 15 for a = 0.1 rad. The trailing-
 298 M.-K. HUANG AND C.-Y. CHOW AIAA JOURNAL

1.5-r 1.5-r'

I.O--

(UNSTABLE)
0.5-- = 0.10-
0.5-- 8 =0
0.05 0.05
0.10
0.15 (STABLE )

-1.0 1.0 -1.0 1.0

1.5 l.5i-
LEADING EDGE LOCI
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8 = O.I5 N
0.10,
1.0 0.05 N

TRAILING EDGE LOCI

0.5 8 =0
^0.05
, 0.10
0.15
J________I i
10 15

Fig. 14 Loci of free vortex and lift for circular-arc airfoils of dif- Fig. 15 Loci of free vortex and lift for cambered airfoils of almost
ferent camber at a = 0.1 rad. the same thickness (a = 1.15) but different camber at a = 0.1 rad.

edge loci are stable for /3 = 0 (symmetric airfoil), and are 4) The effect of increasing thickness is to stabilize the
unstable for both ft = 0.05 and 0.1. trailing-edge vortex but in the meantime to reduce the
Combining these two sets of results, we can say that for a maximum lift of the airfoil.
fixed thickness, either vanishing or finite, the camber 5) The effect of increasing camber is similar to that of
decreases the ability of the airfoil to stably trap a vortex near increasing angle of attack as far as the stability and maximum
the trailing edge. A small camber may make all equilibrium lift are concerned. It has such a particularly strong
positions of the free vortex unstable. destabilizing effect that a small camber may cause all
equilibrium positions of the vortex to become unstable.
^ X. Conclusions 6) For the purpose of increasing the lift of a wing by
To summarize the results presented in the previous sections utilizing a trapped external vortex, it is appropriate to use a
for airfoils of various geometries, we make the following reasonably thick symmetric airfoil at a small angle of attack.
conclusions. The conclusion is made based on the analysis for a two-
1) Although very high lifting forces can be generated by a dimensional potential flow model.
stationary vortex captured above the leading edge, the vortex
is always unstable in the sense that the vortex will move away Acknowledgment
after being displaced slightly from its equilibrium position. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of
From the cases that have been considered, this conclusion Scientific Research under Grant AFO$R 81 -0037.
seems to be true independent of both the thickness and
camber of the airfoil. References
2) A free vortex may become stably trapped above the J
Cox, J., 'The Revolutionary Kasper Wing," Soaring, Vol. 37,
trailing edge for lift generation according to a linearized Dep. 1973, pp. 20-23.
stability analysis for two-dimensional disturbances. The 2
Walton, D., "A Brief Wind Tunnel Test of the Kasper Airfoil,"
maximum lift that can be generated by a stable tr ailing-edge Soaring, Vol. 38, Nov. 1974, pp. 26-27.
3
vortex is generally several times higher than the lift on the Kurppa, E. W., "A Wind Tunnel Investigation of the Kasper
same airfoil without an external vortex, even if it is small in Vortex Concept," AIAA Paper 77-310, Jan. 1977.
4
comparison with the maximum lift generated by the leading- Rossow, V. J., "Lift Enhancement by an Externally Trapped
edge vortex. The vortex trapped below the airfoil has an Vortex," AIAAPaper.77-672, June 1977.
5
opposite effect of decreasing the lift of the airfoil. Saffman, P. Q. and Sheffield, J. S., "Flow over a Wing with an
Attached Free Vortex," Studies in Applied Mathematics, Vol. 57,
3) Increasing angle of attack diminishes the vortex-trapping 1977, pp. 107-117.
ability of the airfoil and reduces the magnitude of the Sheffield, J. S., 'Topics in Vortex1 Motion," Ph.D. Thesis,
maximum lift that can be produced by the stable vortices. For California Institute of Technology, 1978.
7
a given airfoil, no vortex can be captured if the angle of attack Chow, C.-Y., An' Introduction to Computational Fluid
exceeds a limiting value. Mechanics, 1st ed., Wiley, New York, 1979, Sec. 2.7.