Aircraft wake vortex encounters with residential structures

Presented in the following work is a comprehensive analysis of wake vortex encounters with residential structures. From the results of high fidelity LES simulations, the dynamics and underlying flow structures which govern these potentially damaging encounters have been identified. Through evaluation of the pressure loads transmitted to the roof surface, the potential for damage to occur to a residential structure as a result of wake vortex exposure has been evaluated for a variety of cases. Regarding the building’s design, structures possessing larger pitch angles and thus steeper roofs have been found to sustain the largest peak loads for their encounter with an identical wake vortex system as compared to their flatter roofed counterparts. Similarly, upon assessing the effect of the environmental conditions it was observed that for increasingly turbulent atmospheres, the wake vortex encounter would occur sooner and with a reduced intensity compared to more neutral conditions. These behaviours have been attributed to the effects of secondary flow structures formed from the shedding of vorticity from the building surface or from wake vortex interactions with the eddies that comprise the atmospheric environment. These secondary flow structures energise wake vortex instability mechanisms thus leading to the variations in pressure loads sustained by the roof. With respect to the impact orientation, we note that there exists a minimal difference on the pressure loads generated during a wake vortex encounter for small angular offsets up to 20°.