The airwake of a model Simple Frigate Shape 2 (SFS2) was studied in a low-speed wind tunnel. This airwake was measured using a novel time-dependent, dual plane, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry approach. Two flow planes over the flight deck, one parallel and one perpendicular to the free-stream were simultaneously measured. Measurements were carried out over four such pairs of streamwise-spanwise plane combinations. Additionally, the airwake with and without a simulated atmospheric boundary layer (sABL) was studied. The synchronicity of the measurements were taken advantage of to carry out conditional averages of the flow field to isolate and study certain flow events (and its footprint) within the airwake. Those flow events that are likely relevant to rotorcraft operations in the vicinity of ships were chosen to carry out this conditional analysis.
Conditionally averaged statistics of the large vertical fluctuations in the shear layer over the flight deck revealed sharp velocity gradients as well as large-scale flow features above and over large portions of the deck. The fields conditioned on large positive vertical fluctuations were opposite in sign (or the mirror) of those with large negative vertical fluctuations, pointing to a temporal symmetry associated with the oscillation of the shear layer. The flow scenario with the sABL showed similar turbulence levels with almost identical flow structures. An examination of the two stable flow states of the hangar door wake, based on conditional statistics, revealed that each state influenced nearly the entire flow field. Additionally, the mean temporal and spatial evolution of the airwake as the flow transitions between these two states was established. In the case of the flow with the sABL, both flow states persisted for shorter time periods. Overall this study strengthened the growing body of evidence that points to the airwake being a flow field that is a coupled or encapsulating flow structures that are interacting.
","abstract_html":"<p>The airwake of a model Simple Frigate Shape 2 (SFS2) was studied in a low-speed wind tunnel. This airwake was measured using a novel time-dependent, dual plane, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry approach. Two flow planes over the flight deck, one parallel and one perpendicular to the free-stream were simultaneously measured. Measurements were carried out over four such pairs of streamwise-spanwise plane combinations. Additionally, the airwake with and without a simulated atmospheric boundary layer (sABL) was studied. The synchronicity of the measurements were taken advantage of to carry out conditional averages of the flow field to isolate and study certain flow events (and its footprint) within the airwake. Those flow events that are likely relevant to rotorcraft operations in the vicinity of ships were chosen to carry out this conditional analysis.</p> <p>Conditionally averaged statistics of the large vertical fluctuations in the shear layer over the flight deck revealed sharp velocity gradients as well as large-scale flow features above and over large portions of the deck. The fields conditioned on large positive vertical fluctuations were opposite in sign (or the mirror) of those with large negative vertical fluctuations, pointing to a temporal symmetry associated with the oscillation of the shear layer. The flow scenario with the sABL showed similar turbulence levels with almost identical flow structures. An examination of the two stable flow states of the hangar door wake, based on conditional statistics, revealed that each state influenced nearly the entire flow field. Additionally, the mean temporal and spatial evolution of the airwake as the flow transitions between these two states was established. In the case of the flow with the sABL, both flow states persisted for shorter time periods. Overall this study strengthened the growing body of evidence that points to the airwake being a flow field that is a coupled or encapsulating flow structures that are interacting.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mazzilli, Guillermo"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-10-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-10-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z","subjects":["experimental aerodynamics; PIV; ship airwake; wind tunnel; bistability; shear layer; fluid mechanics; turbulent flow","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/702","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mazzilli, Guillermo"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["experimental aerodynamics; PIV; ship airwake; wind tunnel; bistability; shear layer; fluid mechanics; turbulent flow","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/702"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The airwake of a model Simple Frigate Shape 2 (SFS2) was studied in a low-speed wind tunnel. This airwake was measured using a novel time-dependent, dual plane, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry approach. Two flow planes over the flight deck, one parallel and one perpendicular to the free-stream were simultaneously measured. Measurements were carried out over four such pairs of streamwise-spanwise plane combinations. Additionally, the airwake with and without a simulated atmospheric boundary layer (sABL) was studied. The synchronicity of the measurements were taken advantage of to carry out conditional averages of the flow field to isolate and study certain flow events (and its footprint) within the airwake. Those flow events that are likely relevant to rotorcraft operations in the vicinity of ships were chosen to carry out this conditional analysis.
Conditionally averaged statistics of the large vertical fluctuations in the shear layer over the flight deck revealed sharp velocity gradients as well as large-scale flow features above and over large portions of the deck. The fields conditioned on large positive vertical fluctuations were opposite in sign (or the mirror) of those with large negative vertical fluctuations, pointing to a temporal symmetry associated with the oscillation of the shear layer. The flow scenario with the sABL showed similar turbulence levels with almost identical flow structures. An examination of the two stable flow states of the hangar door wake, based on conditional statistics, revealed that each state influenced nearly the entire flow field. Additionally, the mean temporal and spatial evolution of the airwake as the flow transitions between these two states was established. In the case of the flow with the sABL, both flow states persisted for shorter time periods. Overall this study strengthened the growing body of evidence that points to the airwake being a flow field that is a coupled or encapsulating flow structures that are interacting.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Study of Ship Airwakes Using Dual Plane Stereoscopic PIV"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Mazzilli, Guillermo"],"dc:description.abstract":["The airwake of a model Simple Frigate Shape 2 (SFS2) was studied in a low-speed wind tunnel. This airwake was measured using a novel time-dependent, dual plane, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry approach. Two flow planes over the flight deck, one parallel and one perpendicular to the free-stream were simultaneously measured. Measurements were carried out over four such pairs of streamwise-spanwise plane combinations. Additionally, the airwake with and without a simulated atmospheric boundary layer (sABL) was studied. The synchronicity of the measurements were taken advantage of to carry out conditional averages of the flow field to isolate and study certain flow events (and its footprint) within the airwake. Those flow events that are likely relevant to rotorcraft operations in the vicinity of ships were chosen to carry out this conditional analysis.
Conditionally averaged statistics of the large vertical fluctuations in the shear layer over the flight deck revealed sharp velocity gradients as well as large-scale flow features above and over large portions of the deck. The fields conditioned on large positive vertical fluctuations were opposite in sign (or the mirror) of those with large negative vertical fluctuations, pointing to a temporal symmetry associated with the oscillation of the shear layer. The flow scenario with the sABL showed similar turbulence levels with almost identical flow structures. An examination of the two stable flow states of the hangar door wake, based on conditional statistics, revealed that each state influenced nearly the entire flow field. Additionally, the mean temporal and spatial evolution of the airwake as the flow transitions between these two states was established. In the case of the flow with the sABL, both flow states persisted for shorter time periods. Overall this study strengthened the growing body of evidence that points to the airwake being a flow field that is a coupled or encapsulating flow structures that are interacting.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/702"],"dc:subject":["experimental aerodynamics; PIV; ship airwake; wind tunnel; bistability; shear layer; fluid mechanics; turbulent flow","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics"],"dc:title":["A Study of Ship Airwakes Using Dual Plane Stereoscopic PIV"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z"}