Design and Experimental Study of Winglets for

Subsonic Aircraft

A report on
Major Project
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology
by
Saurabh Chand

R290215038

to
Department of Aerospace Engineering
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies
Dehradun, India-248007
April 2021
ii
 Department of Aerospace
Engineering
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Certificate
It is certified that the work contained in the project titled “Design and Experimental
Study of Winglets for Subsonic Aircrafts” by following students has been carried out
under my/our supervision and that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a
degree.

Student Name Roll Number Signature

Saurabh Chand R290215038

Signature Signature

Dr Rajesh Yadav Dr Sudhir Joshi

Mentor Head of the Department

Department of Aerospace Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering,

School of Engineering, U.P.E.S. School of Engineering, U.P.E.S.

Dehradun, Uttarakhand Dehradun, Uttarakhand

India-248007 India- 248007

iii
iv
Abstract

NASA first brought in existence the modern near vertical extension at the end of the
wing known as winglets. The main reason for the existence of these devices is to
eliminate the vortices formed at the wing tips due to flight conditions. The wingtip
vortex, which rotates around from below the wing, strikes the cambered surface of the
winglet, generating a force that angles inward and slightly forward. This gives a sort of
thrust to the airplane and helps it to overcome the induced drag from the parasitic vortex
that tends to harm the flight condition of an airplane. The concept of winglets at wing
tips was brought about by the scientist Richard T. Whitcomb who took inspiration from
birds who used to curl their feathers upwards while flying. What winglets basically does
is that it reduces the amount of air bleeding into the upper surface from the bottom
surface and in turn reduces the vortices formed at the wing tips. The main goal of the
winglets is to achieve an elliptical lift distribution over the wings, as it is proven that
elliptical lift distribution is the most desirable for economic and efficient flight.
With this project we hope to obtain a simple yet effective design for a winglet that will
be easy and cost effective to manufacture for low speed aircrafts. The winglet should be
of a simple shape yet be competitive enough to give efficiency figures compareable to
all the advanced shaped winglets (eg - double winglet, etc).

v
vi
Acknowledgement

The acknowledgement in Regular Times New Roman font 12 with double spacing with
general hints given in abstract can be used. The format could be as shown below.

I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Dr.

Rajesh Yadav for their guidance and support. I would also like to express my gratitude
towards them for showing confidence in me. It was a privilege to have a great
experience working under him in a cordial environment.

I am very much thankful to the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, for
providing me the opportunity of pursuing B.Tech Aerospace Engineering in a peaceful
environment with ample resources. I am also grateful to my institute for providing me
the necessary financial support to present my work at several national and international
conferences (if any). I am very much thankful to Industry name for funding provided to
establish the hydrodynamic research facility to conduct the experiment (if any).

I am thankful to friends name, office staffs and other relevant persons.

In the end, I would like to acknowledge my parents, family members. Without their
support, this work would not have been possible.

Name of students

Saurabh Chand

vii
 Contents
Certificate iii
Abstract v
Acknowledgements vii
Contents ix

Contents ......................................................................................................................... ix

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... - 1 -

1.1 MOTIVATION....................................................................................................................... - 1
-

1.2 OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................... -

1-
2 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... - 2 -

2.1 AERODYNAMIC AND STRUCTURE DESIGN OF A WINGLET FOR ENHANCED

PERFORMANCE OF BUSSINESS JET (DASSAULT FALCON
10).......................................................................... - 2 -

BY EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

........................................................................ - 2 -
2.1.1 OBJECTIVES
.................................................................................................................- 2 -
2.1.2 BASELINE AIRCRAFT DASSAULT FALCON
10................................................................- 2 -
2.1.3 WINGLET GEOMETRY FOR THE FALCON 10
................................................................- 2 -
2.1.4
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................
...- 3 -

2.2 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF SINGLE AND MULTI WINGLETS

.................................................. - 3 - BY KCG COLLEGE OF

TECCHNOLOGY........................................................................................... - 3 -
2.2.1 HISTORY
......................................................................................................................- 3 -
2.2.2 THEORY OF WINGLET WORKING ................................................................................- 3 -
viii
 2.2.3
TESTING.....................................................................................................................
..- 4 -
2.2.4
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................
...- 4 -

2.3 CFD ANALYSIS OF WINGLETS AT LOW SUBSONIC FLOW

...................................................... - 5 - BY UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY MARA

......................................................................................... - 5 -
2.3.1 OBJECTIVE
...................................................................................................................- 5 -

ix
 2.3.2 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... .- 5 -
2.3.3 RESULT ........................................................................................................................- 5
-

2.4 DESIGN OF PARAMETRIC WINGLETS AND WING TIP DEVICES - A CONCEPTUAL

DESIGN APPROACH
.......................................................................................................................... - 6 -
2.4.1 OBJECTIVE ...................................................................................................................-
6-
2.4.2 METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................................-
7-
2.4.3 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................-
9-

2.5 CFD ANALYSIS OF WINGLETS AT LOW SUBSONIC FLOW

.................................................... - 10 - WCE 2011 (ISBN:978-988-18210-6-5)

....................................................................................... - 10 -
2.5.1 OBJECTIVE .................................................................................................................-
10 -
2.5.2 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................-
10 -
2.5.3 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................-
12 -
3 EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP .............................................................................. - 13 -

3.1 CATIA MODELLING ............................................................................................................ - 13

-
3.1.1 WING GEOMETRY: ....................................................................................................-
13 -
3.1.2 WINGLET GEOMETRY: ...............................................................................................-
13 -

3.2 ANSYS MESHING ............................................................................................................... - 16

-

3.3 ANSYS ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... -

18 -
3.3.1 Method of Approach.................................................................................................- 18 -
3.3.2 Iterations Allotted .....................................................................................................- 18 -
3.3.3 Governing Equation and Boundary Condition Selection...........................................- 19 -
3.3.4 Method of Analysis ...................................................................................................- 20 -

3.4 OUTCOME OF THE SIMULATION........................................................................................ -

20 -
4 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................. - 23 -
x
4.1 GENERAL OUTCOME ......................................................................................................... - 23
-

4.2 EXPERIMENT OUTCOME.................................................................................................... - 24

-
5 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. - 26 -

6 List of Tables ..................................................................................................... - 27 -

7 List of Figures .................................................................................................... - 27 -

xi
xii
1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 MOTIVATION
There is presence of induced drag due to wingtip vortices which leads to more fuel
consumption in aeroplanes. The encounter of an aircraft during take-off or landing with
the wake generated by the preceding aircraft can pose a serious hazard which is
particularly dangerous because it occurs near the ground. To avoid wake encounters,
regulations require aircraft to maintain set distances behind each other and set time
intervals between landing and take-off. As a result of this, the operating costs to airlines
and passengers are also severely impacted. There is also the presence of noise effects
due to vortices. Vortices form because of the difference in pressure between the upper
and lower surfaces of a wing that is operating at a positive lift. Since pressure is a
continuous function, the pressures must become equal at the wing tips. The tendency is
for particles of air to move from the lower wing surface around the wing tip to the upper
surface (from the region of high pressure to the region of low pressure) so that the
pressure becomes equal above and below the wing. The air experiences a circular
movement along with simultaneous free stream movement resulting in the formation of
a helical path.

1.2 OBJECTIVES
Analyze all the types of winglets currently in existence. We will want to deduce a
winglet shape that is easy to manufacture and produces some efficient figures in terms
of lift and thrust. After that we intend to make a model and test our model in the wind
tunnel to compare theoretical and experimental results.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 AERODYNAMIC AND STRUCTURE DESIGN OF A WINGLET FOR

ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF BUSSINESS JET (DASSAULT
FALCON 10)
BY EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY
Ref-1

2.1.1 OBJECTIVES
The goal of this project is to study the benefit of a wingtip device for Baseline Aircraft
Dassault Falcon 10. The expected benefits are an increased range and lower fuel burn.
Theselectedwinglet, with a span of 3.219 ft, a cant angle of 45o and a sweep angle of 40o
increases range by 3.3% and saves about 3.8% of fuel on a 1200 Nm mission.

2.1.2 BASELINE AIRCRAFT DASSAULT FALCON 10

The winglet in this thesis is proposed for the Dassault Falcon 10 that entered into service
in 1973. Its range is 2000 Nm carrying four passengers at Mach 0.75 and an altitude of
35,000 ft without fuel reserves.

2.1.3 WINGLET GEOMETRY FOR THE FALCON 10

Dassault suggests that the Falcon 10 may have non-negligible structural margins that
would allow larger wingtip devices to be installed. However, the aft-swept low wing
present on this aircraft greatly limits the use of a downward pointing device because of
ground clearance. So we use here blended type winglet.

-2-
 Figure 1-Winglet Geometry Parameters

No shockwaves or separation occurred on the winglet before appearing on the baseline

wing. At Mach 0.7 a shockwave starts to form on the baseline wing at α 5o. A shockwave
starts to form on the winglet at α 7o when the wing shockwave is already well established.
Similarly, at Mach 0.8, a shock starts to form on the winglet at α 7o while the wing
shockwave is already large.

A region of separation appears behind the shock on the wing but the flow stays attached
on the winglet. Therefore, it is concluded that the winglet does not cause any harm due to
shock formation at operational Mach numbers.

2.1.4 CONCLUSION
From this research paper we can conclude that we can use blended winglet with cant
angle of 45 degree which gives the best efficiency to the aircraft performance with
improve range.

2.2 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF SINGLE AND MULTI WINGLETS

BY KCG COLLEGE OF TECCHNOLOGY
Ref-2

2.2.1 HISTORY
In 1976, Whitcomb started the research initially and introduced the winglet as a physical
barrier at the end of the wing. According to Whitcomb, at Mach 0.78, the use of winglet
resulted in nine percent increase in lift to drag performance of the aircraft and twenty
percent decrease in the total drag production. Before this research in order to reduce the
tip vortices, wingspan had to be increased which added weight to the aircraft but the
usage of these winglets imposed less weight and efficient too.

2.2.2 THEORY OF WINGLET WORKING

The main aim of placing winglet is to increase lift and efficiency of the aircraft so as to
reduce the wingtip vortices formed at the tip of the wing. The pressure difference in the

-3-
 upper and lower surfaces results in up and down wash effect causing the air to flow from
down to upper surface of the wing, since these winglets act as a physical barrier, the air
flowing at the tip tries to go up by moving along the surface of the winglet as the air
travels, the strength of the airflow diminishes gradually which results in considerable
reduction in the wingtip vortices.

2.2.3 TESTING
reference wing NACA 662-215

Calibrating the wind tunnel is the initial process of testing the fabricated wing. This
process is undertaken so as to find the required Rpms for testing. Velocities 10, 15, 20,
25m/s are selected for testing. The tunnel is calibrated and the Rpms for the selected
velocities are noted, noted Rpms = 300, 440, 575, 720.

2.2.4 CONCLUSION
The experimental results obtained from the values of coefficient of lift are compared for
all the selected winglets. It is observed that multi-winglet is more efficient for higher
velocities in less angle of attack. When angle of attack is getting into stalling angle,
multi-winglet is not efficient as much as single winglet. For our asymmetrical wing
NACA 662215, the winglet of 25 degree phase angle is more efficient for higher angle
of attacks. The 0 degree phase angle winglet is giving better results in lower angle of
attack. Both 25 Experimental Study of Single and Multi-winglets 9 degree and 50 degree
are maintaining higher coefficient of lift even in less induced drag condition. It is
observed that the 25 degree phase angle winglet is showing sudden stalling at higher
velocities.

-4-
2.3 CFD ANALYSIS OF WINGLETS AT LOW SUBSONIC FLOW
BY UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY MARA
Ref-3

2.3.1 OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this study is to numerically perform a CFD analysis on the
baseline wings (without winglet) and winglets of semi-circular and elliptical shapes at
cant angle of 60 degree and an additional cant angle of 45 degree. The analysis were
performed on rectangular wing of 660 mm span and 121 mm chord, at various angle of
attack at low subsonic region. The thickness of each winglet is half of the aerofoil chord
which is 60.5 mm.
The computational simulation was carried out by FLUENT 6.2 solver using Finite
Volume Approach. The simulation was done at low subsonic flow and at various angles
of attack using Spalart-Allmaras couple implicit solver.
The study involved obtaining and comparing the aerodynamic characteristics such as
drag coefficient, CD, lift coefficient CL and lift-to-drag ratio, L/D, and it was found that
the addition of the elliptical and semi-circular winglet gave a larger lift curve slope and
higher Lift-to-Drag Ratio in comparison to the baseline wing alone. Elliptical winglet
with 45 degree cant angle was the best overall design giving about 8 percent increase in
lift curve slope and the best Lift-to-Drag Ratio.

2.3.2 METHODOLOGY
The computational steps in this project consist of three stages. The project began from
pre-processing stage of geometry setup and grid generation. The geometry of the model
was drawn using CATIA V5R13. The grid was generated by GAMBIT. The second
stage was computational simulation by FLUENT solver using Finite Volume Approach.
Finally is the post-processing stage where the aerodynamics characteristics of the
winglets were found.

2.3.3 RESULT
The result from the 3dimensional rectangular wing with winglet model was compared
to the 3-dimensional rectangular wing without winglet

-5-
 Lift coefficient analysis:-
The elliptical winglet with cant angle of 45 degree has highest lift coefficient, CL in
comparison with other types of winglets. The semi-circular winglet with cant angle of
45 degree gives the second highest lift coefficient, CL.
Drag coefficient analysis:-
The elliptical winglet with cant angle of 45 degree has the lowest drag coefficient, CD
followed by semi-circular winglet of cant angle of 60 degree. All the elliptical and semi-
circular winglet with cant angle of 45 and 60 degree show a decrease in the drag
coefficient, CD.

Lift/Drag Ratio Analysis:-

The elliptical winglet with cant angle of 45 degree has the highest lift-to-drag ratio,
CL/CD compared to the other winglets for all velocities. This is followed by semi-circular
winglet with cant angle of 45 degree which is second highest lift-to-drag ratio, CL/CD for
all velocities. All the elliptical and semi-circular winglet with cant angle of 45 and 60
degree show the performance of increasing lift-to-drag ratio, CL/CD.

2.4 DESIGN OF PARAMETRIC WINGLETS AND WING TIP DEVICES -

A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN APPROACH
Ref-4

2.4.1 OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this paper is to study the effects of winglet on aerofoil NACA
2415 using CFD. This is to be done by comparing the aerodynamics characteristics
which include Drag coefficient (CD), Lift coefficient (CL), and Lift to Drag ratio
(L/D) of with and without winglet model. The geometry of wing models and meshing
are carried out by ANSYS 19 software. The aerodynamic characteristic of wing with
and without winglet are to be measured and compared for best aerodynamic
characteristics.

-6-
2.4.2 METHODOLOGY

2.4.2.1 CAD DESIGN: -

We have used Solid Works 3D Design Software to develop the template of wing with
winglet and wing without winglet. We have modelled blended winglet template with
two different portions one is blended base and another is blended vertical. Blended
base forms the intersection at the wing tip chord and continues as a smooth curve to
avoid drag. The leading edge of blended base is formed by conic section which
depends on sweep plane, two tangent lines and two points which lies on the similar
plane.

2.4.2.2 PRE-PROCESSING: -
Design Modeler: -
ANSYS Design Modeler is used for the first stage of pre-processing stage. It is solid
modeler which allows the drawing 2-D sketches, the modelling of 3-D pieces or to
upload 3D CAD models from Solid Works or Catia V5 and then the CAD model is put
inside a fluid enclosure which will work as control volume for further calculations.

ANSYS Meshing: -
Since we are working in steady state conditions so Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes
(RANS) equations is used for energy and turbulence model. RANS equations and
conservation of energy and mass are combined so that it help to break down the fluid
domain into discrete cells by the means of mesh or a grid and then it solves the RANS
and conservation laws in each of the sub regions. Generally there are two types of
meshes that can be applied one is structured and another is unstructured. We have used
structured mesh which is characterized by regular connectivity which expressed as a
three dimensional array. This kind of mesh limits to hexahedra the geometry of our
elements and preferably used for better accurate results as compared to unstructured
mesh. This procedure requires several iterations as when the calculation process going
to launch in Fluent. The average amount of cells is 2.000.000 and the average number
of nodes is above 500.000. If the amount of cells and nodes increase beyond this then
the mesh size will be too big and the laptop would not able to run it.

-7-
ANSYS Fluent Set Up: -
First, we choose the cruise condition.
Table 1

Secondly, we choose the solver on the ANSYS Fluent Software. We use different
approaches for different types of flows such as pressure-based approach is used
for incompressible flows and density based approach is used for high speed
compressible flows. We obtain velocity field from momentum equations and
density field from continuity equations. We have also used energy equation for
calculating the pressure field. For applying the Navier –Stokes equation we add
turbulence viscosity equation which helps us to make the use of inflation layer of
our working model.
To calculate the values of flow in its boundary layer, there are three viscous
models which helps to solve each of the cases.
1. Spalart-Allmaras
2. k-€
3. k-ὠ
We use k-€ for our further calculations. We used this viscous model as it helps to
solve two variables, so, here one variable is k which corresponds to the turbulence
kinetic energy and
€ is the dissipitation rate of turbulence kinetic energy. It gives much more accuracy
in solving external flow problems around complex geometries.

-8-
2.4.2.3 PROCESSING
calculation. In order to make the procedure lighter for the computer, Fluent will be
launched with the 8 available processors The domain and physical restrictions are already
set. The next step is to run the put in parallel configuration. In addition to this, before
proceeding with the iterative method it is important to check scaling factor (50:1). We
also need to make sure we are in steady state conditions and with velocity formulation set
as absolute. Once these parameters are checked and both solution methods and solution
controls are set, it is time to initialize the calculation. Finally we can run the calculation.
During the iterative process, an important issue appeared aside from the non-convergence
problem. Although the mesh quality was improved, in some cells the turbulent viscosity
was limited to viscosity ratio of 1.000000e+05.

2.4.2.4 POST PROCESSING:-

Ansys fluent it is a platform where the user can gather numerical as well as graphical data.
Only because of the help of CFD analysis, it is possible to get images that show a
complete map of the variable values distribution which is useful when trying to check the
influence of variable geometries. On giving attention to numerical reports, they can get
started from the Forces Reports option of ansys fluent. It allows to print on the console
the values for each of the named surfaces that generate those Aerodynamic reactions
which are the fuselage intrados and extrados.
On focusing attention on graphical reports, they present a rated variation of values over
the selected geometry which shows the variables are changing over the surfaces.
Static pressure, Mach number, Vorticity or turbulence intensity will be e the main factors
that the graphical study will present. They will help to compare how the winglet affect
the pressure difference between the intrados and extrados of the wing or the turbulence
generation at the wingtip.

2.4.3 RESULTS
The results were obtained after the simulation and on each configurations Wing with
Winglet profile has the highest value of Lift coefficient and Lift-to-Drag ratio (L/D) as
compared to wing without winglet. So after summarizing all things we have discussed we

-9-
get to know that if wing with winglet profile would be attached to the aircraft wing it
would have better aerodynamic characteristics and that would increase the efficiency of
the aircraft by lesser fuel consumption and also the effective cost of fuel will be less and
optimum.

2.5 CFD ANALYSIS OF WINGLETS AT LOW SUBSONIC FLOW

WCE 2011 (ISBN:978-988-18210-6-5)
Ref-5

2.5.1 OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper was to find the L/D ratio of different winglet shapes and
orientation. CFD software like FLUENT 6.2 was used with a finite volume approach to
calculate the values of CL and CD and also the L/D ratio. The analysis was done on
CATIA models made for the purpose.

2.5.2 METHODOLOGY
The project began from preprocessing stage of geometry setup and grid generation. The
geometry of the model was drawn using CATIA V5R13.The grid was generated by
GAMBIT. The second stage was computational simulation by FLUENT solver using
Finite Volume Approach. Finally is the post-processing stage where the aerodynamics
characteristics of the winglets were found. Geometry setup was made using wireframe
and surface design to draw the 3-dimensional model of winglet. The 3-dimensional
unstructured tetrahedral mesh was utilized for computing the flow around the model.
Unstructured mesh is appropriate due to the complexity of the model. The advantages
of the unstructured mesh are shorter time consumption in grid generation for
complicated geometries and the potential to adapt the grid to improve the accuracy of
the computation.

- 10 -
 Figure 2

*
Figure 3

Figure 4

- 11 -
2.5.3 RESULTS
The data obtained from the FLUENT analysis is tabulated below.
Five different wings were analyzed. Namely (1) Wing Without Winglet (2) Wing with
elliptical winglet at 45deg Cant (3) Wing with elliptical winglet at 60deg Cant (4) wing
with semicircular winglet at 45deg Cant (5) wing with semicircular winglet at 60deg
Cant. These analyses were done for 3 different velocities (40m/s, 45m/s, 50m/s) for 4
different angle of attacks (0deg, 4deg, 8deg, 12deg).
Here are the obtained results:
Table 2

Table 3

- 12 -
 Table 4

3 EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

3.1 CATIA MODELLING

The CATIA Model was made taking the following parameters into consideration.

3.1.1 WING GEOMETRY:

Airfoil – NACA 2412
Wing Type – Tapered Wing
Chord Length Root – 7000mm
Chord Length Tip – 1681mm
Taper Ratio – 4.164
Wing Span – 35800mm

3.1.2 WINGLET GEOMETRY:

Airfoil – NACA 2412
Chord Length Root – 1600mm
Chord Length Tip – 864mm
Sweep Angle – 25 deg
Cant Angle – 15 deg, 30 deg, 60 deg Figure 5-Winglet Geometry

- 13 -
Figure 6- (Winglet with cant angle 15 deg)

Figure 7- (Winglet with cant angle 30 deg)

- 14 -
Figure 8- (Winglet with cant angle 60 deg)

Figure 9- (Without winglet)

- 15 -
3.2 ANSYS MESHING

Meshing in any average FEA programming (like ANSYS FLUENT) is discretization. The
continuum should be discretized into a finite number of "elements". This procedure is called
meshing. Meshing affects the outcomes, a great deal. Fine mesh is required in the basic
territories, for example, zones of pressure fixation, or regions of interest for the pressure
dissemination we are searching for. A rough guideline maybe, a mesh that looks great is
acceptable. This may not be pertinent all over however is relevant at numerous spots. Fine
mesh is required in the zone of intrigue. The mesh should be refined until there is no critical
change in the pressure esteems after mesh refinement. So to summarize, meshing can be
stated in the following points:
• Meshing is only discretization of consistent body into finite number of elements.
• It influences are diverse depending on what kind of investigation you are doing
• If you are doing durability analysis, then at critical regions more number of
elements should be placed and number triangular elements are used.
• In the event that you are doing crash examination, at that point stream of mesh is
significant.
• For the most part more the no of elements, more the precision of the outcomes yet
it will unite eventually, and after that point increment in no of elements doesn't
influence the outcomes.

For our analysis, we went with the type called “structured meshing”. In this methodology,
the governing equations changed into the curvilinear coordinate framework lined up with
the surface. It is insignificant for straightforward shapes. In structured–matrix type there
is a bit of leeway and impediment, the upside of this sort is the simple nodal neighbor
network. The inconvenience of this sort is that it can't be utilized for exceptionally
complex geometry, another drawback is that when it is required to have grouping of point
in one locale (for reason of accuracy), unnecessary small spacing in different pieces of
the arrangement area is created, which is squander assets.
But these disadvantages doesn’t affect our experiment in any significant way so due to its
easy nature, this meshing method was selected.

- 16 -
Figure 10-(Unmeshed wing with winglet)

Figure 11-(Meshed wing without winglet)

Figure 12-(Side view of meshed airfoil)

- 17 -
 Figure 13-(Wing with Winglet incorporating structured meshing)

3.3 ANSYS ANALYSIS

3.3.1 Method of Approach

The previous segment shows off all the proposed designs that would in theory be suitable
for our project and data analysis. Now for this later segment we selected one of the
proposed designs and progressed with our work on that. In order to draw a true to real life
comparison, and make inferences on how the presence of a winglet of a certain geometry
helps an aircraft to overcome challenges like bad efficiency due to wing tip vortices. So
what we did was selected a specific configuration of winglet (mentioned above). Then we
integrated that winglet into a wing with some specific dimensions (mentioned below) and
made a CATIA model of two identical wings, one with the selected winglet and the other
without the winglet. Then we imported this CATIA model into our ANSYS student
software and performed the simulations to obtain the results. Our goal with this method
of approach was to bring out the simple yet impactful advantages that installing a winglet
to a simple wing brings to subsonic flight.

3.3.2 Iterations Allotted

Let us initially comprehend iterations. Iterations mean the number of times the same
equations will performed on the different boundary values. Something very similar is
utilized in ANSYS, when you characterize an arrangement of reproduction through the

- 18 -
independent framework (auxiliary, CFD and so forth.) you characterize a particular
numerical issue on the particular geometry. Further, it is partitioned into the mesh, the mesh
is involved hubs and element. Presently on the off chance that you state one iteration, at
that point, your whole issue will be executed once on your given mesh. At that point you
take second iterations on a similar issue with various mesh. This progression will give you
more legitimate outcomes than the 1s iteration. At that point this loop goes on.
For our experiment we selected 1000 iteration analysis.

3.3.3 Governing Equation and Boundary Condition Selection

The governing equations of a numerical model portray how the estimations of the variable
factors (for example the dependent factors) change when at least one of the known (for
example independent) factors change. These governing equations dictate the boundary
conditions for any analysis.
For our analysis we selected the combination of the following governing equations and
Boundary conditions (also we took the K-EPSYLON approach):
• Fluid BC
• Air BC
• Density BC
• Continuity Equation
• Momentum Equation
• Energy Equation
• Mass Flux Rate
• Mass Flow Rate
Here is a graph showing all the Equations and BC variations for a better insight.

- 19 -
 Figure 14-(Variation of BC and GE w.r.t iterations)

3.3.4 Method of Analysis

Analysis for FLUENT can be done in many methods. But for the case of our experiment,
we went with the “All surface initialization” approach incorporating second order upwind
condition. This specific combination was selected as it has seemingly numerous
advantages, the main being, it allows analysis of complex geometry in a very discrete and
error free method. And also this combination is the best mix for speed of computation and
accuracy. Also to decrease our errors further, we even incorporated first order upwind
condition in our simulation.

3.4 OUTCOME OF THE SIMULATION

We are attaching the CL characteristic graph and CD characteristic graph of the winglet
configuration to portray our results.

- 20 -
Figure 15-(Coefficient of Drag vs iteration graph)

Figure 16- (Coefficient of Lift vs Iteration Graph)

- 21 -
 Figure 17-(Velocity vector analysis around the winglet)

We can see in the CL graph that the value of Lift Coefficient starts oscillating from after
the 25th iteration, while in the case of the CD graph the value of Drag Coefficient starts
diverging from after the 20th iteration, and but there is a deflection in the positive direction
in between the 5th iteration and 10th iteration. The analysis of this graph results in inferring
that the lift characteristics of any wing when a winglet is added increases. Also in ANSYS
we get the force vector analysis on the wing with the winglet to concur how the air flow
around the winglet adds up to eliminate the wing tip vortices.

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4 CONCLUSION

4.1 GENERAL OUTCOME

From the extensive research that we did on the topic of winglets, we have some inferences.
These are, as follows:
• Blended wings with winglets at cant angle at 45 degree have higher lift coefficient
CL than wing without winglet by about 5% to 12% with angle of attack so which
gives best efficiency to the aircraft performance with improve range.
• Multi-winglet is more efficient for higher velocities in less angle of attack but when
it reaches its stalling angle then it is not efficient as much as single winglet. As per
the experimental studies of both single and multi-winglets of 9 degree and 50 degree
maintains higher lift coefficient in less induced drag condition and also shows that
25 degree phase angle winglet shows sudden stalling at higher velocities.
• Elliptical winglet with cant angle of 45 degree has highest lift coefficient CL and
then second highest lift coefficient is given by the semi-circular winglet with cant
angle of 45 degree. But when the drag coefficient CD comes into play then the result
is opposite of the lift coefficient CL i.e. All the elliptical and semi-circular winglet
with cant angle of 45 and 60 degree shows a decrease in the drag coefficient CD
and the lift/drag ratio is highest for the elliptical winglet with cant angle 45 degree
followed by semi-circular winglet with cant angle of 45 degree.
• We have got some data on five different which are wing without winglet, wing with
elliptical winglet at 45 degree cant, wing with elliptical winglet at 60 degree cant,
wing with semi circular winglet at 45 degree cant and wing with semi-circular
winglet at 60 degree cant with three different velocities of 40 m/s, 45 m/s ,50 m/s
and four different angle of attacks at 0 degree, 4 degree, 8 degree, 12 degree. So, in
each case of the winglet when the velocity is maximum i.e. 50 m/s and angle of
attack is maximum i.e. 12 degree then Lift coefficient CL is maximum. But when
velocity is minimum i.e. 40 m/s and angle of attack is maximum i.e. 12 degree then
Drag coefficient CD is maximum.
• Wing with Winglet profile has the highest value of Lift coefficient and Lift-to-Drag
ratio (L/D) as compared to wing without winglet. We used Solid Works for making

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 the CAD model successful and then for analysing all the values and simulations we
used ANSYS Fluent software. This software has helped us make design and
calculations simple and effective. So after summarizing all things we have
discussed we get to know that if wing with winglet profile would be attached to the
aircraft wing it would have better aerodynamic characteristics and that would
increase the efficiency of the aircraft by lesser fuel consumption and also the
effective cost of fuel will be less and optimum.

4.2 EXPERIMENT OUTCOME

After conducting the simulation on ANSYS FLUENT, we were left with graphs and
pressure analysis plots that pointed to the fact that when the inclusion of winglets is made
in any wing design, the efficiency figures increase drastically. This is due to the basic fact
that when a finite wing without any wing tip device, the wing tip vortices that are formed
roll over to the dorsal surface of the wing and produce a huge amount of induced drag. But
when a winglet is fitted to the tip of the finite wing, the whole game changes, now these
vortices roll up and strive the cambered surface of the winglet and deflects off in such a
manner that it produces a little amount of forward velocity and this adds up to the whole
airplane’s forward motion and reduces fuel consumption in turn increasing efficiency. This
is clearly evident from the pressure variation diagram that is given below.

Figure 18-(Contour of static pressure on wing with winglet)

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In this figure we can notice that at the wing tip, a huge low pressure zone is created. And
as the inherent property of air is to flow from zone of high pressure to a zone of low
pressure, the huge volume of air from underneath the wing will gush up to the top surface
through the path of least resistance (i.e. the wing tip) and this allows the winglet to do its
preassigned job of eliminating vortex formation and help increase efficiency through the
method discussed before.
So to conclude we can say that the inclusion of winglets in subsonic flight has made the
mass witness a huge improvement in mileage and efficiency figures while eliminating
unstable flight.

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5 REFERENCES

Ref Reference Description Page

No. No.
1 Thesis from EMBRY-RIDDLE Aeronautical University 2
Part of the Aeronautical vehicle common paper( Thesis no. 265)
https://commons.erau.edu/edt/265
2 Thesis by Sayam Narayanan S from KCG College of Technology 3
DOI: 10.17654/FM019020247
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301315323
3 Thesis by Salmiah Kasolang Teknologi MARA 5
ISSN: 2078-0966
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285639080
4 DESIGN OF PARAMETRIC WINGLWTS AND WING TIP
DEVICES - A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN APPROACH
By- Saravanan Rajendra 6
From – IRJET
Document - LIU-IEI-TEK-A--12/01371--SE
5 Paper from Proceedings of the World Congress Engineering 2011 10
Vol. 1
ISBN: 978-988-18210-6-5
ISSN: 2078-0996

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6 List of Tables

TABLE 1 FLIGHT CONDITIONS FOR ANSYS ANALYSIS -8-

TABLE 2 FLUENT ANALYSIS OF CL FOR ISBN 978-988-18210-6-5 - 12 -

TABLE 3 FLUENT ANALYSIS OF CD FOR ISBN978-988-18210-6-5 - 12 -

TABLE 4 FLUENT ANALYSIS OF CL/CD FOR ISBN 978-988-18210- - 13 -

6-5

7 List of Figures

FIGURE 1-WINGLET GEOMETRY PARAMETERS -3-

FIGURE 2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE FOR ISBN 978-988-18210-6- - 11 -

5
FIGURE 3 CATIA MODEL FOR ISBN 978-988-18210-6-5 - 11 -

FIGURE 4 GAMBIT MACHINE FOR ISBN 978-988-18210-6-5 - 11 -

FIGURE 5-WINGLET GEOMETRY - 13 -

FIGURE 6- (WINGLET WITH CANT ANGLE 15 DEG) - 14 -

FIGURE 7- (WINGLET WITH CANT ANGLE 30 DEG) - 14 -

FIGURE 8- (WINGLET WITH CANT ANGLE 60 DEG) - 15 -

FIGURE 9- (WITHOUT WINGLET) - 15 -

FIGURE 10-(UNMESHED WING WITH WINGLET) - 17 -

FIGURE 11-(MESHED WING WITHOUT WINGLET) - 17 -

FIGURE 12-(SIDE VIEW OF MESHED AIRFOIL) - 17 -

FIGURE 13-(WING WITH WINGLET INCORPORATING STRUCTURED - 18 -

MESHING)

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FIGURE 14-(VARIATION OF BC AND GE W.R.T ITERATIONS) - 20 -

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FIGURE 15-(COEFFICIENT OF DRAG VS ITERATION GRAPH) - 21 -

FIGURE 16- (COEFFICIENT OF LIFT VS ITERATION GRAPH) - 21 -

FIGURE 17-(VELOCITY VECTOR ANALYSIS AROUND THE - 22 -

WINGLET)
FIGURE 18-(CONTOUR OF STATIC PRESSURE ON WING WITH - 24 -
WINGLET)

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