Aerodynamic diagnostics and design based on boundary vorticity dynamics

A new approach to aerodynamic diagnostics and inverse design based on the theory of boundary vorticity dynamics is presented and illustrated by various numerical examples. The theory gives a set of total force and moment formulas to which the net contributor is the first and second vector moments of boundary vorticity flux (BVF), respectively. Because BVF measures the vorticity creation rate from body surface, the formulas reaches the physical root of the force and moment. Because the BVF has high peaks only at edges, shoulders, and junctions, the formulas enable a significant focusing of one’s attention to a few very localized key regions of the configuration in an intuitive way. The examples include diagnostics and inverse design of low-speed airfoils, diagnostics of hypersonic flow over a waverider, low Mach-number flow over a slender wing-body combination with leading-edge vortices, and transonic flow over a fairing. It is found that the new approach may reveal some potentials of configuration improvement not easily seen by conventional approaches based on pressure distribution. *Research Professor, Senior Member of AL4A. tprofessor, Associate Fellow of AL4A. *Professor, Senior Member of AL4A. qResearch Assistant, Student Member of AIAA. #Senior Member of AIAA. l *Research Professor tt Member of AIAA. Copyright 01999 by the authors. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. with permission.