Coupling of Actuator Line Method with Vortex Lattice Method in a Vortex-based Actuator Lattice Method (VALM)

Abstract

© 2026, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.The Actuator Line Method (ALM) is coupled with the Vortex Lattice Method (VLM) in order to create a novel methodology titled Vortex-based Actuator Lattice Method (VALM), in which the viscous vortices are placed on the quarter-chord of each panel while the control points are fixed on the three-quarter chord of said panels. The VALM is tested initially for two-dimensional applications employing a flat plate modeled by both one and multiple panels. Initial results show good adherence to the solutions obtained by the thin airfoil theory as well as a traditional VLM code, though this method should be further tested to fully assess its potential. The proposed method shows potential to be used in simulations where the ALM is widely employed, such as complex flows involving wind turbines and aeronautical rotors, with the added benefit of allowing discretization along the chord.