Vortex interaction mechanism over close-coupled canard configuration

Numerical investigation on the vortical structure was carried out on a simplified close-coupled canard configuration with a 50° swept delta wing and a 50° swept delta canard at various angle of attack (AOA) by solving Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes(N-S) equations at 2.4×10⁵ Reynolds number. The vortex evolution was analyzed by comparison with wind tunnel force measurement and water tunnel dye visualization. The dominant interaction mechanism was figured out in three AOA regions which were classified by the canard effect. Although the vortical flowfield are complex, the vortex interaction effect could be cataloged into three mechanism named induction, convolution and burst. The analysis indicates that the canard vortex would perform a favorable impact on the main wing vortex especially at the medium and high AOA region, where the convolution effect is dominant and the lift is enhanced most significantly.