Ground viscous effect on 3D flow structure of a compound wing-in-ground effect

Abstract

The wing-in-ground-effect craft is a new means for traveling on rivers, lakes, and at sea between islands. In this study, the effect of boundary layers due to the ground viscous effect on the aerodynamic coefficients of the compound wing of a WIG craft was numerically investigated. The compound wing is divided into three parts, with one rectangular wing in the middle and two reverse taper wings with an anhedral angle at the sides. A realizable k-ε turbulent model was used for modeling the flow around the wing area. The computational results of the compound wing for fixed ground were compared with the experimental data. The aerodynamic characteristics of the compound wing were examined via both fixed and moving ground for removing the boundary layers effect of the ground. Accordingly, the numerical result indicated that the lift and drag coefficients and lift to drag ratio are affected by the ground boundary layers while the moment coefficient and center of pressure of the compound wing showed little variation with respect to ground boundary conditions.