Control of Wingtip Vortices by Using Different Wingtip Configurations
Uploaded by
Anshul KhandelwalControl of Wingtip Vortices by Using Different Wingtip Configurations
Uploaded by
Anshul KhandelwalControl of wingtip vortices by using different wingtip configurations
Palak Pandya
(Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Kamal Poddar)
Introduction and Objective:
One of the primary obstacles limiting the performance of aircraft is the drag that the aircraft
produces. This drag stems from the vortices shed by an aircraft’s wings, which deviates the local
relative wind downwards (an effect known as downwash) and generates a component of the local
lift force in the direction of the free stream. The strength of this induced drag is proportional to
the spacing and radii of these vortices. By designing wings which force the vortices farther apart
and at the same time create vortices with larger core radii, one may significantly reduce the
amount of drag the aircraft induces. Aircrafts which experiences less drag, require less power to
operate and therefore require less fuel to fly an arbitrary distance.
Generally winglets are used for reducing the induced drag or wing tip vortices. Winglets are
small wing like structures which extend from the wingtip, aiming at reduction in wingtip
vortices, induced drag and increase the performance of the aircraft.
This aim of this experimental project is to control wing tip vortices which generates induced drag
and to get a better understanding of the effects produced by the winglets. A rectangular wing
model and seven different configuration of winglets are fabricated and would be tested at various
wind speeds and angles of attack in the wind tunnel. The performance of the winglets and
induced drag is investigated by using a six- component force measuring device balance.
Experimental Setup:
Experiment has to be done in the wind tunnel with following specifications:
• Test section: 1.67m*0.915m*0.608m
• Maximum free stream velocity: 35m/s
• Turbulence level: 0.3%.
A six-component balance is being used to measure the forces. The calibration of force balance
has been done by applying the known load to get the output voltages. The calibration coefficient
is calculated by the force and voltage values. These calibration is used while performing the
experiment in wind tunnel to calculate the force.
Model Design and Fabrication:
A wooden wing model with NACA 0015 aerofoil is fabricated which has the span of 400mm and
chord of 120mm. It is extended from both the sides by 20mm of acrylic. Two hollow cylinders
and two adaptors are fabricated for holding the wing and housing the balance. The front
cylindrical body of length 100mm, inner diameter 28mm and outer diameter 32mm is attached to
the middle part of the wing. It also holds the wooden nose cone of length 30mm and the front
adaptor. The front adaptor of length 90mm houses the balance. The rear part of the balance is
attached to the rear adaptor of length 440mm, which is directly connected to the arc of the wind
tunnel.
Seven configurations of winglets are designed – Disc type winglet, Rectangular winglet, Small
holes on disc type winglet, Small holes on rectangular type winglet, Wing grids, Multiple
winglets(birds wing like shape) and winglet with slots at 45degree of 20mm width for the
experiment. All the parts of the model and winglets are designed in SolidWorks and fabricated
in-house. The experimental setup and winglets are shown in the following figure:
1.(a)
1.(b) 1.(c)
Fig. 1.(a) Disassembled parts in solidworks, 1.(b) Winglets,
1.(c) Model mounted fixed in test section of wind tunnel
Future Work:
• To do force measurement experiment on the rectangular wing aircraft model without any
wingtip device.
• To do force measurement experiment on the model with different wingtip configurations.
• Compare the results of various wingtip configurations.
• If the results are found optimal, smoke visualization or PIV measurement would be
performed to study the flow structure.
References:
1. Bennet, D.,” The Wing Grid: A New Approach to Reducing Induced Drag”, Final Report
16.622, Fall 2001.
2. M. J. Smith· , N. Komerath+ , R. Ames , O. Wong,“Performance Analysis of a Wing with
Multiple Winglets” , School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, Georgia and J. Pearson** Star Technology and Research, Inc., Mount Pleasant,
South Carolina,2001.
3. Saravanan Rajendran,” Design of Parametric Winglets and Wing tip devices – A
Conceptual Design Approach”, Linköping, Sweden, May 2012.
4. McLean, “Wingtip Devices: What They Do and How They Do It”, Article 4 (4.1 - 4.19).
