Turbulent bubbles behind airfoils and wings at high angle of attack

More accurate inviscid and viscous flow models are needed for simulating the main features of the turbulent bubbles in the near wakes behind airfoils at high angles of attack. Descriptions of these flows are not sufficiently detailed to allow accurate modelling for the recirculating flow regions. Numerical and wind tunnel experiments are required to ensure convergence criteria and wake closure conditions at different Reynolds numbers. A simple relation was found which correlates the airfoils viscous lift loss with the location of the upper surface separation point and lift predicted in full attached flow conditions. This simple two-dimensional model was extended to three-dimensional wing flows with embedded turbulent bubbles after a set of wind tunnel experiments and oil-flow visualizations. A fast and efficient method is given for predicting spanwise load distribution and C sub L max for finite unswept wings.