Tip-disturbance effects on asymmetric vortex breakdown around a chined forebody

An experimental study about the tip-disturbance effects on the asymmetric vortex breakdown of a chined forebody was conducted using a wing-body model. The vortices of the chined forebody could produce an asymmetric breakdown at high angles of attack when adding an artificial disturbance onto the nose tip. The forebody vortex with asymmetric breakdown would further interact with the vortices of the strake and wing, consequently inducing significant differential loads on two sides of the wing. When the tip disturbance was located on the leeward side and approached the nose tip, the disturbance had a more prominent effect on the asymmetric breakdown. Moreover, the asymmetry level of the vortex breakdown would increase with increasing geometric sizes of the tip disturbance. However, when a splitter plate was placed in the leeward symmetry plane of the model, the asymmetry of the vortex breakdown would disappear, even adding a tip disturbance.