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arXiv · 1904.04908

Flying in a superfluid: starting flow past an airfoil

Seth Musser·Davide Proment·Miguel Onorato·William T. M. Irvine
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Abstract

We investigate superfluid flow around an airfoil accelerated to a finite velocity from rest. Using simulations of the Gross--Pitaevskii equation we find striking similarities to viscous flows: from production of starting vortices to convergence of airfoil circulation onto a quantized version of the Kutta-Joukowski circulation. We predict the number of quantized vortices nucleated by a given foil via a phenomenological argument. We further find stall-like behavior governed by airfoil speed, not angle of attack, as in classical flows. Finally we analyze the lift and drag acting on the airfoil.

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Seth Musser, Davide Proment, Miguel Onorato, William T. M. Irvine. 2019-04-09. Flying in a superfluid: starting flow past an airfoil. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.154502

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