Aerodynamic investigation of three-dimensional wings in ground effect for aero-levitation electric vehicle

Aerodynamic characteristics of three-dimensional wings in ground effect for Aero-levitation Electric Vehicle (AEV) are numerically investigated for various ground clearances and wing spans at the chord-length based Reynolds number of 2×106. Numerical results show that a sizeable three-dimensional flow separation occurs with formation of an arch vortex at the junction of main and vertical wings, and also that this is conjectured a primary cause for the high lift-to-drag (L/D) reduction rate of the main wing, when the wing span is decreased. Improvements on L/D ratios of the wings with small spans are pursued by breaking the coherence of superimposed adverse pressure gradients at the wing junction.