Title: Computational investigation into the influence of yaw on the aerodynamics of an isolated wheel in free air

Authors: T.D. Kothalawala; A. Gatto

Addresses: College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK ' College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK

Abstract: This paper details a computational investigation into the influence of yaw angle on the near and far-field aerodynamics of an isolated wheel in free air. Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes was used as the primary analysis tool to analyse the complex flow features around this configuration, with principal vortical positions and magnitudes, overall lift, drag, and side force coefficients, as well as on-surface pressures characterised within the work presented. Fundamentally, the flow was found to be highly vortical in nature, particularly within the wake region of the wheel, with changes in yaw shown to have a significant impact on the surface flow, wake structure, as well as calculated force coefficients.

Keywords: wheel aerodynamics; aircraft landing gear; yaw angle; bluff body; CFD; computational fluid dynamics; isolated wheels; non-rotating wheels; free air; Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes; RANS; vortex; lift; drag; side force; on-surface pressures; surface flow; wake structure; air flow; aircraft noise; noise reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCSE.2016.080210

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering, 2016 Vol.13 No.4, pp.333 - 345

Received: 08 Jun 2014
Accepted: 06 Nov 2014
Published online: 08 Nov 2016 *

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