Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Wake Turbulence and BVI Vortices come in all Sizes Nikolsky Lecture

This lecture will discuss the behavior and basics of vortex geometry and strength, particular with regard to those areas where your speaker has had some personal involvement. A comparison will be made between some recent measurements taken of the vortex geometry from a rotor compared to predictions from a wake turbulence study made some time ago at Penn State. Specific topics to be discussed include impulsive pressure, vortex core size, vortex breakdown and efforts to alleviate unfavorable effects resulting from vortex interference on both fixed and rotary wing aircraft.