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Wingtip vortices are circular patterns of rotating air left behind a wing as it generates lift. [1]: 5.14 The name is a misnomer because the cores of the vortices are slightly inboard of the wing tips. [2]: 369 Wingtip vortices are sometimes named trailing or lift-induced vortices because they also occur at points other than at the wing tips.
Wingtip devices help prevent the flow around the wingtip of higher pressure air under the wing flowing to the lower pressure surface on top at the wingtip, which results in a vortex caused by the forward motion of the aircraft. Winglets also reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices and improve lift-to-drag ratio.
When the vortices of larger aircraft sink close to the ground — within 100–200 ft (30–61 m) — they tend to move laterally over the ground at a speed of 2–3 kn (3.7–5.6 km/h; 2.3–3.5 mph). A crosswind decreases the lateral movement of the upwind vortex and increases the movement of the downwind vortex. [4]
A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices , tip design has produced a diversity of shapes, including:
Wingtip vortices form a major component of wake turbulence and are associated with induced drag, which is a significant contributor to total drag in most regimes. A closed wing avoids the need for wingtips and thus might be expected to reduce wingtip drag effects.
Image showing formation of vortices behind the leading edge of a delta wing at high angle of attack A cloud of smoke shows the roll-up of the vortex sheet shed from the whole trailing edge of a wing producing lift from attached flow, with its core aligned with the wing tip. Vortex lift has an additional vortex close to the body when shed by a ...
The Vought V-173 used large propellers near the tips, which helped to counteract its strong wingtip vortices, and had an outboard tail plane for stability. Flying saucer: circular flying wing. Inherently unstable, as the Avro Canada Avrocar demonstrated. Disc wing: a variant in which the entire disc rotates. [17] Popular on toys such as the ...
Vortilons only stream vortices at high angles of attack [8] and produce less drag at higher speeds than wing fences. [9] Pylons used to mount jet engines under the wing produce a similar effect. [10] The occurrence of span-wise flow at high angles of attack, such as observed on swept wings, is an essential requirement for vortilons to become ...