Vortex lift is that portion of lift due to the action of leading edgevortices. It is generated by wings with highly sweptback, sharp, leading edges or highly-swept wing-root extensions added to a wing of moderate sweep. It is sometimes known as non-linear lift due to its rapid increase with angle of attack. and controlled separation lift, to distinguish it from conventional lift which occurs with attached flow.
How it works
Vortex lift works by capturing vortices generated from the sharply swept leading edge of the wing. The vortex, formed roughly parallel to the leading edge of the wing, is trapped by the airflow and remains fixed to the upper surface of the wing. As the air flows around the leading edge, it flows over the trapped vortex and is pulled in and down to generate the lift. A straight, or moderate sweep, wing may experience, depending on its airfoil section, a leading-edge stall and loss of lift, as a result of flow separation at the leading edge and a non-lifting wake over the top of the wing. However, on a highly-swept wing leading-edge separation still occurs but instead creates a vortex sheet that rolls up above the wing producing spanwise flow beneath. Flow not entrained by the vortex passes over the top of the vortex and reattaches to the wing surface. The vortex generates a high negative pressure field on the top of the wing. Vortex lift increases with angle of attack as seen on lift~AOA plots which show the vortex, or unattached flow, adding to the normal attached lift as an extra non-linear component of the overall lift. Vortex lift has a limiting AoA at which the vortex bursts or breaks down.
Vortex lift provides high lift with increasing AoA at landing speeds and in manoeuvring flight. A high AoA needed to meet landing requirements has, in the past, restricted pilot visibility and led to design complications to accommodate a drooping nose, as in the case of the Fairey Delta 2 and Concorde. For moderate swept wings the addition of a LERX reduces wave drag and improves turning performance and enables a far wider range of flying attitudes. The use of vortex lift is restricted by vortex breakdown or bursting and an inherent instability in yaw. There is considerable drag due to increased lift production and loss of leading edge suction that is part of normal attached flow round a leading edge.
Among animals
Animals such as hummingbirds, and bats that eat pollen and nectar, are able to hover. They produce vortex lift with the sharp leading edges of their wings and change their wing shapes and curvatures to create stability in the lift.