Questions tagged [wing-tip-vortex]

Questions about the vortices that form at the wingtips of aircraft due to air flow and pressure differentials.

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3 votes
4 answers
221 views

Will two counter rotating vortices cancel each other?

Suppose that an aircraft flies with its wing through a tip vortex of another aircraft which flew in the opposite direction. Suppose that the shed wing tip vortex of both aircraft are exactly the same ...
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0 votes
1 answer
128 views

If a hot air source was added to the wingtips, would it help control the formation of wingtip vortexes?

Let's say that somehow, an engineer made an exhaust pipe that constantly sprayed hot air at the wingtips in order to help control the formation of less turbulent wingtip vortexes. Would that have any ...
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2 votes
1 answer
144 views

How is blended winglet better?

*Make sure to read the following as I cannot explain my question in one sentence Winglets are a kind of wingtip device that is installed on an aircraft to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency. ...
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3 votes
4 answers
170 views

Can wingtip vortices formed around an unswept wing produce vortex lift?

Vortex lift is a kind of aerodynamic lift force due to vortices formed along the leading edge of highly-swept (usually 60 degrees of swept angle or higher) wings at high angles of attack. The "...
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0 votes
0 answers
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In a CFD simulation the wingtip vortexes gets reduced/cancelled by means of Wingtip End Plates- if this is true is it then useful?

I am just working on a special kind of wing and I do named it a Transformer Wing. The transformation is about the wing camber. The main requirement of the project is that the wing is to be not ...
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11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why are vortices produced at wingtips a source of drag, while vortices from the leading edge (harnessed by delta wings) good?

From my understanding, wingtip vortices produce a downward force on the aircraft, effectively increasing drag. Meanwhile, when considering leading-edge vortices on delta wings, we only consider the ...
3 votes
1 answer
147 views

How can one change the wingtip geometry to enhance the wingtip vortices?

I'm doing some research on enhancing wingtip vortices as part of my Honours project. After spending a fair bit of time in the literature and on this forum I have some models which should kick-start my ...
2 votes
1 answer
210 views

How wide would an A330's wingtip vortices be around a minute after landing?

I recently watched MenTour Pilot's new video about the Royal Air Maroc 737 takeoff from Frankfurt several years ago that made the news at the time because it rotated, failed to fly away at high AoA ...
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4 votes
2 answers
546 views

Why are wings not tapered all the way to reduce vortex drag?

Wingtip vortices are created by, well, wingtips. These vortices create drag. One of the approaches to reducing this drag is taper the wing, source source Will eliminating the wingtip, as on the ...
1 vote
2 answers
227 views

Can winglets be used to compensate the high induced drag created by a low aspect ratio wing?

I have read in some articles that the major advantage of having a high aspect ratio (AR) wing is to reduce the induced drag. If winglets main job is also to reduce the induced drag, how much drag does ...
5 votes
1 answer
283 views

Is a wingtip vortex strongest at the critical angle of attack?

Generally, wingtip vortices increase in strength as the angle of attack increases. Is the critical angle of attack/Cl Max the peak strength, or do the vortices generally continue to increase in ...
0 votes
0 answers
38 views

Will wingtip drag always be more for a smaller aircraft, keeping constant aspect ratio? [duplicate]

Sometime ago, I came across an article (I couldn't find it) which stated that wingtip drag was only related to absolute wingspan. That is, for the same wingspan and lift force, varying the chord will ...
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0 votes
2 answers
364 views

Why is the circulation around a centrifugal impeller blade tip the opposite to a wing tip?

Why does the circulation around a centrifugal pump blade tip go from low pressure to high pressure as an effect of the slip caused by the non-uniform velocity distribution (the opposite of a wing tip)....
1 vote
1 answer
258 views

How can the 777X's longer wing reduce vortices? [duplicate]

I saw the following on this web page: The purpose of the longer wing is to reduce drag caused by vortices, or wake turbulence, that form at an aircraft's wing tips. The less drag, the greater the ...
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5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Are there advantages to slotted wingtips?

Are there advantages to the way some birds' wingtips end in separate feathers instead of a more solid shape? As an example, separate-feathered wingtips: more solid wingtip:
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4 votes
0 answers
84 views

Do contra-rotating props have worse tip vortices than single props?

As I understand it, blades from a propeller have their own tip vortices, because the blades produce lift via the same aerodynamic principles as wings. So they must have tip vortexes too. So with ...
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1 vote
2 answers
625 views

Why do wingtip vortices affect the upwash ahead of the aerofoil?

I understand that wingtip vortices increase the downwash aft of the aerofoil and the theory that they will alter the effective airflow angle, reducing effective angle-of-attack, with the total ...
2 votes
1 answer
759 views

Why does the effective alpha/CL increase at wingtip of swept wing?

If anybody could explain this in an intuitive way I'd really appreciate it. I haven't been able to find a clear answer on this. I understand that the increase in effective AoA/CL and the spanwise flow ...
5 votes
1 answer
591 views

How are elliptical winglets better than blended winglets?

I've read in few papers that elliptical winglets give better performance than blended in terms of their L/D ratio. I am not able to find why elliptical winglets are better. the two differ by their ...
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11 votes
7 answers
5k views

What are some drawbacks to having a wingtip propeller on an aircraft?

I was reading about aircraft concepts that involved wingtip propeller design and was wondering what the drawbacks of such a technology would be. I could not access the full paper but came across this: ...
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

In what conditions are visible Wingtip vortices created?

If I would want to create a visible wingtip vortices on a given plane, what are the conditions that I would need to meet? Wikipedia gives the following explanation: The air cools adiabatically in ...
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1 vote
1 answer
367 views

How to calculate the radius of wing tip vortices?

Is it possible to find the radius of wing tip vortices?
1 vote
1 answer
313 views

How much does the swirl of engine exhaust affect aircraft performance?

Most multi-engine aircraft have engines that rotate the same direction on both sides of the fuselage (e.g. the GEnx rotates clockwise, as viewed from the front, there is no 'mirrored' version). What ...
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3 votes
3 answers
805 views

Does shrouding a propeller minimize induced drag by equalizing the downwash velocity along its blades?

EDIT: It's not a duplicate of Are ducted fans more efficient? That question and the answers doesn't address the reason for the higher theoretical efficiency, it is more about efficiency in practice (...
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0 votes
0 answers
934 views

Why don't more airplanes incorporate spiroid winglets? [duplicate]

In typical airplanes, lift induced drag can account for the majority of the overall drag. Why don't more aircraft employ methods to reduce this and specifically why not spiroid winglets? From every ...
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3 votes
1 answer
208 views

Vortex Lattice Method with eliptical panels

I implemented vortex lattice method (or deeper here) into my aircraft simulation program. The problem is that sometimes trailing vortex filaments from Horse Shoe Vortexes of main wing hits panels of ...
1 vote
2 answers
435 views

Does a vortex/wake turbulence reach ground level nearby?

Where I live not many houses are built under the immediate approach/takeoff line of airports. Instead, they use the area for, say, sports fields. Is it possible, in otherwise no-wind conditions, for ...
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0 votes
1 answer
803 views

Spanwise flow and wingtip vortices in forward-swept wings

One of the benefits of forward-swept wing is that spanwise flow direction is from tip to root. However, in this answer an X-29 has quite significant sweep angle, at which drawbacks such as ...
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0 votes
0 answers
512 views

Is the Embraer E190-E2 equipped with raked wingtips?

It looks like the Embraer E190-E2 has a raked wingtip, but isn't a raked wingtip only efficient for long-haul aircraft like the Boeing 77W?
6 votes
3 answers
763 views

Do wingtip vortices really only form when airplane wheels are separated from the ground?

My GA theory textbook (which covers fixed wing up to and including EASA PPL) has some suggestions on taking off and landing light aircraft soon after large aircraft (besides avoiding it, if possible), ...
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0 votes
1 answer
673 views

Why don't airbus aircraft have raked wingtips? [duplicate]

Most airbus aircraft have sharkfin winglets or blended winglets. Why is it that none of them have raked wingtips like the 777-300ER?
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

How and why do wake vortices come together to form two tip vortices?

Wake vortices are created all along the wingspan but, the vortices come together to form two tip vortices. How exacly does this happen and why does it? I know that wake vortices push air to the side. ...
3 votes
3 answers
699 views

How do wing tip vortices interact with the airflow on an wing with winglets?

If winglets are added to an aircraft, do the vortices still interact with the airflow and create up wash and down wash. If the vortices do interact with the rest of the flow I am wondering how they do ...
1 vote
0 answers
219 views

How does downwash bend airflow down? How can wing-tip vortices reach the airflow in front of the wing? [duplicate]

Wing-tip vortices only start occurring when the pressure difference on the two sides of the wing starts. Wouldn't this mean that by the time the downwash from the vortices is acting on the airflow it ...
7 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is induced drag caused because of the tilt of the wing backwards?

In this question: Why is induced drag less on a high span wing? In the answer it was stated that wing tip vortices do not cause induced drag. If this is the case then what causes the induced drag. ...
18 votes
4 answers
10k views

Why does a clean configuration lead to the generation of greater wingtip vortices?

"Slow, heavy, clean" are the three major conditions generating stronger wing vortices. It's very clear how "slow and heavy" aircraft create stronger vortices, but why a "clean" configuration generates ...
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10 votes
2 answers
9k views

How do Hoerner Wingtips work?

I was just reading up about different methods of reducing drag through the different wingtip designs when I come across Hoerner Wingtips. So after some research, I have two questions. According to ...
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1 vote
1 answer
3k views

How can I calculate effective wingspan of a high aspect ratio model airplane?

I've heard of people talking of wingspan and effective wingspan. Considering: L = Lift Coefficient . 1/2 Rho . Velocity ^ 2 . Surface Area, I understand that tip ...
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the relationship between angle of attack and wake turbulence?

It is said that when the preceding airplane is heavy, clean, and slow, wake turbulence is much hazardous due to greater angle of attack is requried. However, why does increasing angle of attack result ...
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3 votes
2 answers
508 views

How does the adiabatic cooling of wingtip vortices work?

This question on condensation and wingtip vortices, What is the mechanism by which condensation forms above wings?, attributes the reduction in temperature found in wingtip vortices to Adiabatic ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is a wing tip's front edge tapered?

I am beginner and I want to understand the advantage of a tapered wing tip front edge beyond reducing the mass. How does this minimize or effect vortex drag, etc. Can someone help me to visualize this ...
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10 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the best combination of airfoil shape for flight in ground effect over water?

What is the best airfoil shape for flight in ground effect over water?
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6 votes
2 answers
568 views

Does a strobe light shield act like a wingtip fence [or better sort of vortex generator]?

I was told it is a shield to avoid to blind the pilot during night flights when the strobes are on. Now, knowing the primary reason is, as far as I know, the above mentioned: Does anyone know any ...
9 votes
5 answers
2k views

Can wing-tip vortices be reduced/eliminated with a rear-facing propeller near the wing-tip?

Let's say we have a propeller-driven aircraft in the pusher configuration (rear-facing propellers). If we could somehow put an engine at the wing tip (ignoring structural concerns), and maybe make the ...
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-3 votes
1 answer
402 views

Design winglets to counteract tip vortex [closed]

I want to know the effect of the wingtip vortex to design a winglet (or a wing horizontal extension) to counteract* this effect. How could I calculate the momentum produced by the tip vortex, in ...
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11 votes
2 answers
8k views

Why does the vortex created by wing affects its own angle of attack?

According to potential flow theory, we know that the lift generated by the wings is due to the vortex it creates. In case of a 3D finite wing, there is also a span wise flow due to tip leakage from ...
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2 votes
2 answers
338 views

Can an aircraft or helicopter run into its own wake vortex?

I was recently flying my rc helicopter and I would sometimes turn it around and move it forward and sometimes I lost control of the helicopter while doing that a few times and crashed it everywhere (...
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8 votes
1 answer
700 views

Do vertical stabilizers create vortices like wingtips do?

On a wing, a wing tip vortex is unavoidable no matter what configuration you use, but does a vertical stabilizer form a wing tip vortex? I noticed this picture and saw two vortices coming off of the ...
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11 votes
2 answers
1k views

How "powerful" is a wing tip vortex?

I know that aircraft generate wake turbulence and wingtip vortices, and the strength of those phenomena are related to the size of the aircraft, but how powerful are wingtip vortices in terms a non-...
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3 votes
2 answers
9k views

How could it be possible to fully prevent wing tip vortex formation? [duplicate]

I know that winglets and swept wings are ways to reduce the vortex that are currently in use on many aircraft. Are there any aircraft design concepts out there that completely eliminate the vortex ...
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