Flow past wing-body junctions

Abstract

The three-dimensional laminar flow past a junction formed by a thin wing protruding normally from a locally flat body surface is considered for wings of finite span but short or long chord. The Reynolds number is taken to be large. The leading-edge interaction for a long wing has the triple-deck form, with the pressure due to the wing thickness forcing a three-dimensional flow response on the body surface alone. The same interaction describes the flow past an entire short wing. Linearized solutions are presented and discussed for long and short two-dimensional wings and for certain three-dimensional wings of interest. The trailing-edge interaction for a long wing is different, however, in that the three-dimensional motions on the wing and on the body are coupled together and in general the coupling is nonlinear. Linearized properties are retrieved only for reduced chord lengths. The overall flow structure for a long wing is also discussed, including the traditional three-dimensional corner layer, which is shown to have an unusual singular starting form near the leading edge. Qualitative comparisons with experiments are made.