Compressible Inviscid Vortex Flow of a Sharp Edge Delta Wing

Abstract

An analysis is presented on the compressible inviscid vortex flow over three delta wings with sharp leading edges with leading edge sweep angles *&#6160, 70, and 76 deg using numerical solutions of the Euler equations. Presentations of results are given for Mach numbers ranging from M*&#610.1 to 0.8 and for angles of attack up to the onset of vortex breakdown. The paper focuses the attention on the effects of the vortex flow on the flowfield of a delta wing. The occurence of shock waves of two types, crossflow and terminating (or rear) shocks in the vortical flowfields, are investigated; the possibility of shock-induced vortex breakdown and the effects of compressibility on the rapid performance degradation of delta wings after vortex bursting are studied in detail. It is shown that the onset of the vortex bursting at the wing trailing edge is only weakly influenced by the freestream Mach number.