Remote detection and tracking of wingtip generated wake vortices is important for hazard avoidance especially near airports. Aircraft that fly through these hazardous vortices experience sudden induced roll. Experiments have demonstrated that there is sufficient radar cross section for remote detection at frequencies ranging from VHF to C band (100 MHz to 5 GHz). The mechanism that yields this radar cross section is Bragg scattering from the index of refraction variations due to the atmospheric water vapor and potential temperature fields being mixed by the wake vortex system. Refractive index variations of the size that correspond to half the operating radar wavelength produce the observed radar return. Previous analysis has postulated turbulence within the wake vortex to be the generator of the index of refraction variations. In this work, a new mechanism is identified that does not assume turbulence within the wake vortex system. This "laminar flow mechanism" causes refractive index structuring that stretches into successively smaller spirals over time as the wake vortex system swirls and descends through the stratified atmosphere. The results are quantitatively consistent with experimental data. Results indicate that this new mechanism has a sharply peaked doppler spectrum which is encouraging for coherent detection by doppler radar. / Ph. D.

La surveillance des turbulences de sillage par radar en temps de pluie présente un intérêt à la fois pratique et scientifique. Cette thématique a été traitée à travers trois étapes successives.Tout d’abord, le mouvement et la distribution des gouttes d’eau dans les vortex ont été modélisés et simulés. A partir de l’équation de la dynamique appliquée sur une goutte d’eau, une méthode de calcul de la trajectoire des gouttes d’eau et de leur concentration dans les turbulences de sillage a été proposée. Ensuite, deux simulateurs de réponse radar des gouttes d’eau dans et autour des vortex ont été proposés. Ces deux simulateurs ont été utilisés pour reproduire des configurations expérimentales, et une comparaison préliminaire avec les mesures a montré une concordance intéressante entre mesures et simulations en bande X et W. Enfin, l’interprétation de la signature radar des gouttes de pluie dans les vortex a été présentée. La dépendance de la signature envers différents paramètres, à savoir l’intensité de précipitation, la circulation des vortex et les paramètres radar, a été étudiée pour des turbulences de sillage générées par différents types d’avions. Une méthode de détection des turbulences de sillage basée sur la largeur du spectre Doppler des gouttes de pluie et un algorithme permettant d’estimer les caractéristiques des turbulences de sillage ont été proposées. La signature radar des turbulences de sillage par temps de pluie a été modélisée et analysée dans cette thèse. Les résultats de simulations ont démontré les capacités du radar pour la détection de ces turbulences. Les méthodes développées dans cette thèse pourront être utilisées pour le dimensionnement de systèmes radar dédiés à la surveillance des turbulences de sillage par temps de pluie. / Nvestigation on radar monitoring of wake vortices in rainy weather is of both scientific and practical interests. This topic hasbeen tackled through three successive steps during this thesis.Firstly, the motion of raindrops in wake vortices has been modeled and simulated. The equation of the motion has been derived and the methodology to compute the raindrops' trajectory and distribution in the flow induced by the wakevortices has been proposed. Secondly, two simulators have been developed for evaluating the radar signatures of raindropsin wake vortices. Those simulators have been used to reproduce experimental configurations and the comparison betweenmeasured and simulated signature has shown an interesting agreement at X and W band. Lastly, the interpretation of radarsignatures of raindrops in wake vortices has been presented. The dependence of radar signatures on rain rate, vortexcirculation and radar parameters has been studied. A wake vortex detection method based on the analysis of Dopplerspectrum width of raindrops and a methodology to estimate the wake vortex characteristics have been proposed.The radar signatures of wake vortices in rainy weather have been modeled and analyzed in this thesis. The simulationresults have demonstrated the capability of radar to detect wake vortex in rainy weather. The methodologies developed inthis thesis can be further exploited for designing new wake vortex radar systems.

Estimation of the Radar Cross Section of large inhomogeneous scattering objects such as composite aircrafts, ships and biological bodies at high frequencies has posed large computational challenge. The detection of scattering from wake vortex leading to detection and possible identification of low observable aircrafts also demand the development of computationally efficient and rigorous numerical techniques. Amongst the various methods deployed in Computational Electromagnetics, the Method of Moments predicts the electromagnetic characteristics accurately. Method of Moments is a rigorous method, combined with an array of modeling techniques such as triangular patch, cubical cell and tetrahedral modeling. Method of Moments has become an accurate technique for solving electromagnetic problems from complex shaped homogeneous and inhomogeneous objects. One of the drawbacks of Method of Moments is the fact that it results into a dense matrix, the inversion of which is a computationally complex both in terms of physical memory and compute power. This has been the prime reason for the Method of Moments hitherto remaining as a low frequency method. With recent advances in supercomputing, it is possible to extend the range of Method of Moments for Radar Cross Section computation of aircraft like structures and radiation characteristic of antennas mounted on complex shaped bodies at realistic frequencies of practical interest. This thesis is a contribution in this direction. The main focus of this thesis is development of parallel Method of Moments solvers, applied to solve real world electromagnetic wave scattering and radiation problems from inhomogeneous objects. While the methods developed in this thesis are applicable to a variety of problems in Computational Electromagnetics as shown by illustrative examples, in specific, it has been applied to compute the Radar Cross Section enhancement due to acoustic disturbances and flow inhomogeneities from the wake vortex of an aircraft, thus exploring the possibility of detecting stealth aircraft. Illustrative examples also include the analysis of antenna mounted on an aircraft. In this thesis, first the RWG basis functions have been used in Method of Moments procedure, for solving scattering problems from complex conducting structures such as aircraft and antenna(s) mounted on airborne vehicles, of electrically large size of about 45 and 0.76 million unknowns. Next, the solver using SWG basis functions with tetrahedral and pulse basis functions with cubical modeling have been developed to solve scattering from 3D inhomogeneous bodies. The developed codes are validated by computing the Radar Cross Section of spherical homogeneous and inhomogeneous layered scatterers, lossy dielectric cylinder with region wise inhomogeneity and high contrast dielectric objects. Aerodynamic flow solver ANSYS FLUENT, based on Finite Volume Method is used to solve inviscid compressible flow problem around the aircraft. The gradients of pressure/density are converted to dielectric constant variation in the wake region by using empirical relation and interpolation techniques. Then the Radar Cross Section is computed from the flow inhomogeneities in the vicinity of a model aircraft and beyond (wake zone) using the developed parallel Volume Surface Integral Equation using Method of Moments and investigated more rigorously. Radar Cross Section enhancement is demonstrated in the presence of the flow inhomogeneities and detectability is discussed. The Bragg scattering that occurs when electromagnetic and acoustic waves interact is also discussed and the results are interpreted in this light. The possibility of using the scattering from wake vortex to detect low visible aircraft is discussed. This thesis also explores the possibility of observing the Bragg scattering phenomenon from the acoustic disturbances, caused by the wake vortex. The latter sets the direction for use of radars for target identification and beyond target detection. The codes are parallelized using the ScaLAPACK and BiCG iterative method on shared and distributed memory machines, and tested on variety of High Performance Computing platforms such as Blue Gene/L (22.4TF), Tyrone cluster, CSIR-4PI HP Proliant 3000 BL460c (360TF) and CRAY XC40 machines. The parallelization speedup and efficiency of all the codes has also been shown.

"This thesis documents the experimental proof of concept study for an ultrasonic method of wake vortex detection. A new acoustic technique is utilized to measure the circulation produced in the wake of lift-generating aircraft. Ultrasonic signals are transmitted in a path around the wake vortex, and are used to determine the average in-line velocity component along the acoustic path. It is shown herein that this velocity component is directly proportional to the net circulation value within the acoustic path. This is the first study to take this methodology and implement it in a realistic airport setting. This project included constructing a prototype and conducting field tests to prove the validity of this technology in a realistic environment setting. During field tests an acoustic path enclosed the vorticity shed behind one wing of a Piper PA-28 aircraft. Fourteen initial test flights were conducted in calm atmospheric conditions, and results show circulation values measured are comparable in magnitude and direction to expected circulations generated by the Piper PA-28 aircraft. Additional testing in various atmospheric conditions revealed the scope of practice for such a measurement technology. This study demonstrates the validity of the acoustic method in detecting aircraft wake vortices. Future investigations and applications utilizing this technique are discussed within."

This thesis presents a collection of photogrammetry techniques aimed at the analysis of short-lived events. The small time scale on which these phenomena happen makes them difficult to capture not only from the point of view of hardware but also because one can not obtain several measurements of events that are not repeatable. Three subjects are presented in ascending order of complexity. We first detail a new approach that uses a simple unidimensional image sensor for traffic monitoring in order to obtain a large number of accurate measurements like speed, acceleration or inter-vehicle distances. This is followed by a discussion on the reconstruction of the surface of an evanescent liquid flow using stereovision on floating tracers. Finally, a new spectral model is used for the three-dimensional detection of aircraft wake vortices from IR LIDAR measurements. The approach was successfully tested during flight tests and proved to be invaluable to detect the wakes under these specific conditions.

No description available.

This thesis presents two aspects of air transportation systems, capacity and efficiency. The first study improved a runway capacity simulation model for estimating the capacity of airports under various conditions. The main contribution of this study was to develop a simulation model which is able to analyze different airports with individual aircraft types. Many air traffic regulations were added to the simulation model to give more realistic results to the potential users of the model. Analysis of different separation systems between aircraft pairs show that the capacity of airports can improve by using more efficient separation systems specially under tough weather conditions. One of the outputs of the study, is an upgraded user interface which can be used by airport authorities for estimating their facilities' available capacity under different scenarios. The second study represents a new method for estimating unimpeded taxi times for taxing airplanes at airports. This study focused specifically on 6 large airports in the United States and the real ground radar data for all of the movements at those facilities. By tracking the real trajectories of every operation, the taxing behavior of each flight was analyzed. A standalone application was designed to summarize the flights information at each airport and represent the taxing behavior. The results show that using the ground radar data at airports can represent the taxing behavior in the highest fidelity. / Master of Science / The federal aviation administration predicts an ongoing growth in aviation industry over the following 20 years. The number of passengers using air transportation systems will increase annually in the next 20 years. Therefore, the airports will be more crowded and a higher number of operations will occur at those facilities. An accurate prediction of airports’ capacities can help the authorities to improve the airports appropriately. This will lead to an efficient aviation system which does not suffer severely from long delays. The contribution of the first study in this thesis was to help the process of predating airports’ capacities under various conditions by utilizing a computer model. As a result, a user interface was designed to help airport planners choosing their desired airports and estimating the maximum capacity under different operational conditions. An accurate prediction of airport capacity, can be useful for future designs and improvement plans. The second part of this thesis, represents a new methodology for analyzing the behavior of airplanes while moving at airports. Every flight operation starts its journey at the origin airport and finishes its journey at the destination airport. It is very important to analyze the behavior of each airplane while it is moving on the ground at the origin or destination airport. Therefore, parameters like taxing duration, waiting duration, average taxi speed can be used to evaluate the taxing performance of the airplanes. This study extracts the critical parameters of airplanes’ behavior at airports to help the planners evaluating the ground performance of each airport.

Wake vortices pose a threat to a following aircraft, because they can induce a roll and compromise the safety of everyone on board. Caused by a difference in pressure between the upper and the lower part of the wings, these invisible flows of air are a major hazard and have to be avoided by separating the aircraft at considerable distances. One of the known constraints in airport capacity for both departure and arrival operations is the large headway resulting from the wake spacing separation criteria. Reducing wake vortex separations to a safe level between successive aircraft can increase capacity in the National Airspace System (NAS) with corresponding savings in delay times. One of the main goals of the Wake Encounter Model (WEM) described in this thesis is to assess the outcome from future reduced separation criteria in the NAS. The model has been used to test probable encounters in today's operations, and can also be used to test NextGen scenarios, such as Close Parallel Approaches and reduced in-trail separation flights. This thesis presents model enhancements to account for aircraft turning maneuvers, giving the wake a more realistic shape. Three major airspaces, New York, Southern California and Atlanta, were analyzed using the original and the enhanced WEM to determine if the enhanced model better represents the conditions in today's operations. Additionally, some analysis on the wake lateral travel for closely spaced runways is presented in this thesis. Finally, some extension tools for post -analysis, such as animation tool and various graphs depicting the interactions between wake pairs were developed. / Master of Science

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Zhongquan Zheng / In this study, a vortex particle method is used to simulate incompressible vortical flows, specifically aircraft wake vortices. This is particularly suitable for a wake vortex system that is slowly varying in the axial direction and has a high Reynolds number and low Mach number. The flow field, in the form of vorticity, is employed as the source in the far-field acoustic calculation using a vortex sound formula that enables computation of acoustic signals radiated from an approximated incompressible flow field. In a two-dimensional vortex system, the stretching effect in the axial direction is neglected. The purpose of this study is to focus on vortex core behaviors. A numerical simulation is performed in a more realistic wake consisting of a counter-rotating vortex pair with inviscid ground effects and shear flows. A Kirchhoff spinning-core vortex model is thus used as a starting point. In a vortex system with multiple vortices, such as a complicated aircraft vortex wake vortices, the sound emission frequency of the unsteady vortex core is subjected to change because of interactions between multiple vortices. The behaviors of the influence, indicated by the ratio between the core size and the distance of the vortices, are investigated as well as the underlining vortex core dynamic mechanisms. Cases of co-rotating vortices and a multiple-vortex system composed of two counter-rotating vortex pairs are studied for applications to aircraft wake vortex sound. In three-dimensional vortices, sinusoidal instabilities, which occur in the axial direction at various length scales, result in significant flow structure changes in these vortices, and thus influence their radiated acoustic signals. Cases of vortex rings and a pair of counter-rotating vortices are studied when they are undergoing both long-wave and short-wave instabilities. Both inviscid and viscous interactions are considered and the effects of turbulence are simulated using sub-grid-scale models. A higher peak frequency than the Kirchhoff frequency appears due to the straining field caused by mutual perturbation, under both long-wave and short-wave instabilities. Vortices with the initial core vorticity of the Gaussian distribution and the elliptic distribution are also studied.

Previous work on rigid splitter plates in the wake of a bluff body has shown that the primary vortex shedding can be suppressed for sufficiently long splitter plates. In the present work, we study the problem of a flexible splitter plate in the wake of a circular cylinder. In this case, the splitter plate can deform due to the fluid forces acting on it, and hence the communication between the two sides of the wake is not totally disrupted like in the rigid splitter plate case. In particular, we study two kinds of flexible splitter plates. In the first case, the splitter plate is rigid but is flexibly mounted (hinged) to the cylinder, while in the second case, the entire splitter plate is flexible. We are interested in both the dynamics of the splitter plate, if they do vibrate at all, and in the wake dynamics downstream of the flexible splitter plates. The main parameters in the problem are the splitter plate length (L) to cylinder diameter (D) ratio, the relative mass of the plate, the Reynolds number, and the stiffness and internal damping associated with the flexible plate. In our study, we investigate this problem in the limit where the stiffness and internal damping of the plate are negligible and hence are not parameters of interest. For the hinged-rigid splitter plate case, experiments show that the splitter plate oscillations increase with Reynolds numbers at low values of Re, and are found to reach a saturation amplitude level at higher Re. This type of saturation amplitude level that appears to continue indefinitely with Re, appears to be related to the fact that there is no structural restoring force in this case, and has been seen previously for elastically-mounted cylinders with no restoring force. In the present case, the saturation tip amplitude level can be up to 0.45D,where D is the cylinder diameter. For this hinged-rigid splitter plate case, it is found that the splitter plate length to cylinder diameter (L/D) ratio is crucial in determining the character and magnitude of the oscillations. For small splitter plate lengths (L/D ≤ 3.0), the oscillations appear to be nearly periodic with tip amplitudes of about 0.45D nearly independent of L/D. The non-dimensional oscillation frequencies (fD/U ) on the other hand are found to continuously vary with L/D from fD/U ≈ 0.2at L/D =1 to fD/U ≈ 0.1 at L/D = 3. As the splitter plate length is further increased beyond L/D ≥ 4.0, the character of the splitter plate oscillations suddenly changes. The oscillations become aperiodic with much smaller amplitudes. In this long splitter plate regime, the spectra of the oscillations become broadband, and are reminiscent of the change in character of the wake oscillations seen in the earlier fixed-rigid splitter plate case for L/D ≥ 5.0. It appears that the vortex shedding is nearly inhibited for L/D ≥ 4.0 in the present case. This is also supported by measurements of the wake vorticity field from Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV). The phase-averaged PIV vorticity fields show that the strength of the shed vortices decreases rapidly as the splitter plate length increases. For longer splitter plates, L/D ≥ 4.0, the plate oscillations are no longer periodic, and hence it appears that the wake vortices are not synchronized with the splitter plate motions. For the entirely-flexible splitter plate case, the splitter plate deformations appear to be in the form of a travelling wave. In this case, the tip amplitudes are significantly larger of the order of 1.1D, and the non-dimensional oscillation frequency (fD/U )is close to 0.2, approximately the same as the Strouhal number for the bare cylinder. In sharp contrast to the hinged-rigid splitter plate case, the non-dimensional amplitude and frequency appear to be nearly independent of the normalized splitter plate length (L/D)even up to L/D =7.0. PIV measurements of the wake vorticity field indicates that there appears to be a nearly continuous sheet of vorticity on both sides of the flexible splitter plate, and the vortex sheet sheds and forms distinct vortices only at the trailing edge of the plate. The strength of these shed vortices appears to be close to that of the bare cylinder at similar Re. The results appear to suggest that in this entirely-flexible case, the vortices form at the same frequency and are of the same strength as in the bare cylinder case, but their formation is just pushed further downstream. This would suggest that in this case, the base suction and drag could be lower than the bare cylinder. Further, the formation of vortices further downstream of the body could imply that this type of flexible splitter plate could be useful to suppress vortex-induced vibrations (VIV).