So, I was thinking (sorry) about what happens when air flow from the air box winglet interacts with the rear wing.
Is it possible for the vortices shed from the winglet to both increase downforce from the rear wing
and break up the vortices shed by the rear wing, which would simultaneously reduce drag? Or are those ideas mutual exclusive? (Or are they impossible altogether?)
You have
counter-rotating vortices shed from the winglet aimed
roughly at the spot where
other counter-rotating vortices are shed from the rear wing,
but with opposite directions of rotation. Regardless of whether I'm right or wrong about their effects, those things will happen (I think). It's any possible interaction between the two that's up in the air (again, I think).
The first image below is totally unaltered; the second is color-inverted and seems to depict signs of rotating, or at least outward, flow on the wing. Look at the "fire-thing" and the "er" in the Santander logo. The third image is a graphic representation of what I think I see.
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(Right click>View Image)
Things to consider: the flow patterns could be the result of pressure bled from the top of the wing through the end plate slots. It could be a design flaw. It could even be a complete misinterpretation of the FloVis patterns shown. That said, "energizing" flow over the rear wing would be a good thing. So would reducing the strength of vortices shed from it. I'm also not an aerodynamacist.
Ideas?
EDIT: Another thing to keep in mind is that vortices are typically shed prior to the region I've highlighted in yellow below. That's the reason for the cutout on the end plates: they allow high-pressure air flow from outside the wing to diffuse into the area of lower pressure air flow in order to minimize the pressure differential that leads to the formation of vortices.
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