Vortex methods and their application to trailing wake vortex simulations

Abstract: Vortex methods are competitive for simulating incompressible unsteady flows, because they have negligible dispersion error and good energy conservation. The various methods are presented, including the recent developments: particle redistribution, diffusion, relaxation (by projection), efficient solvers (fast multipole method, vortex-in-cell method, hybrid method) and parallel computer implementations. Examples relating to wing/aircraft trailing wake vortices are presented: 2-D and 3-D, inviscid and viscous, direct numerical simulation and large eddy simulation. We consider wake roll-ups, vortex tube dynamics, 3-D instabilities and the complexity/turbulence they produce. A vortex system in ground effects is also presented. To cite this article: G. Winckelmans et al., C. R. Physique 6 (2005). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]