A Unified Analytical Assessment of Ground Clearance Effects on the Aerodynamic Loading of Tandem Tilted Flat Plates

Abstract

The interaction of flow, wake development and aerodynamic loading of tandem aerodynamic configurations are highly affected by ground-effect aerodynamics. Many experimental and computational studies have studied these phenomena, but most are selected investigation and presented as separate performance parameters which offer limited support for integrated engineering interpretation. This study proposes an analytical methodological framework that is transferable, called the Unified Ground Clearance Assessment Framework (UGCAF), which is derived from recent developments in the field of systematic reinterpretation of existing research data. Instead of obtaining new aerodynamic data, UGCAF itself systematically reorganizes and assesses the validated selected investigation based on five complimentary engineering indicators: Aerodynamic Loading, Ground-Clearance Influence, Wake Interaction Strength, Shielding Behaviour and Comparative Performance Rating. It is illustrated by a typical published experimental study of tandem tilted flat plates under various ground-clearance conditions. The aerodynamic loading is predicted to be dominated by the coupled effect of the plate position, wake development, and ground effect, and an increase of the ground clearance is expected to shift the downstream plates towards more wake redevelopment and reduced aerodynamic shielding, and enhance loading recovery of the downstream plates compared to the leading plate. UGCAF allows to combine several aerodynamic mechanisms in a consistent engineering approach to the analysis of published aerodynamic measurements and to provide a comparative assessment between validated experimental and computational studies. The proposed framework is not dependent on the data acquisition methodology, and is a portable engineering tool for the interpretation of aerodynamics behaviour for multi-body aerodynamic systems (such as ground-effect systems).