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    Wake Turbulance

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    jhony

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    Wake Turbulance

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    jhony
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    Wake Turbulance

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    jhony

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    of 1

    70 LIFT GENERATION

    Figure 4.13 A Winglet.

    4.15 Wake Turbulence

    The strength and size of the vortices produced by an aeroplane are dependent on the amount of lift
    produced. Strong vortices are produced by large transport aeroplanes that create a significant amount of
    turbulence behind the aeroplane along the path of the aircraft. The disturbance so caused can extend for
    a considerable distance and last for several minutes. This is wake turbulence that can seriously affect the
    controllability of following aeroplanes if they are too close. See Figure 4.14.
    The severity of the turbulence so created is categorised to enable following pilots to assess the
    difficulties that may be encountered. The larger, heavier aeroplanes create the worst turbulence that will
    cause problems to following pilots particularly when close to the ground during take-off or landing.
    Pilots are advised by the aviation authorities of the minimum distance and/or time separation from the
    aeroplane ahead deemed to be safe, to avoid having control problems.
    The minimum separation distance and/or time is based on the relative sizes of the aeroplanes con-
    cerned. Wake turbulence is affected by the height of the aeroplane and the prevailing wind conditions.
    The downwash of the airflow behind the aeroplane causes the vortices to descend to one thousand feet
    below the aeroplane. However, at low height, when the aeroplane is in ground effect, the vortices move
    outward from the path of the aeroplane over the ground. But any cross wind between 5 kt and 10 kt
    will prevent this happening to the upwind vortex and will keep it on the aircraft’s track. It is particularly
    important during the take-off phase that the following aircraft complies with the advised separation
    because of this.
    Aircraft mass, speed, aspect ratio and trailing-edge flap setting influence the strength of the vortices.
    The vortex strength is greatest for heavy aeroplanes at low airspeed and in the clean configuration, which
    is just after rotation at take-off. Vortices only cease when the nose-wheel touches down during landing
    ground run. When trailing-edge flaps are extended they produce additional vortices at the flap outboard
    tips that weaken the wing-tip vortex and accelerate its dissipation. (See page 164).

    4.16 Spanwise Lift Distribution

    To minimise the amount of induced drag, that is the drag caused by the creation of lift, it is essential
    to design the wing such that the size and strength of the wing-tip vortices are small. To achieve this
    the length of the wing chord must be shortest at the wing tip and increases continuously to become the
    longest at the wing root. In theory a constant downwash along the whole span can be achieved by such
    a wing planform. Thus, it is the taper ratio that determines the spanwise lift distribution of a wing. See
    Figure 4.15.

    4.16.1 The Effect of Wing Planform


    Although the three-dimensional characteristics of a wing are determined by its aspect ratio it is the shape
    of the wing planform that influences the distribution of the lift. The taper ratio, that is the ratio of the

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