CFD analysis of variable geometric angle winglets

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Hussain Kazim ◽  
Abdullah Hamid Malik ◽  
Hammad Ali ◽  
Muhammad Usman Raza ◽  
Awais Ahmad Khan ◽  
...  

Purpose Winglets play a major role in saving fuel costs because they reduce the lift-induced drag formed at the wingtips. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the best orientation of the winglet for the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) M6 wing at Mach number 0.84 in terms of lift to drag ratio. Design/methodology/approach A computational fluid dynamics analysis of the wing-winglet configuration based on the ONERA M6 airfoil on drag reduction for different attack angles at Mach 0.84 was performed using analysis of systems Fluent. First, the best values of cant and sweep angles in terms of aerodynamic performance were selected by performing simulations. The analysis included cant angle values of 30°, 40°, 45°, 55°, 60°, 70° and 75°, while for the sweep angles 35°, 45°, 55°, 65° and 75° angles were used. The aerodynamic performance was measured in terms of the obtained lift to drag ratios. Findings The results showed that slight alternations in the winglet configuration can improve aerodynamic performance for various attack angles. The best lift to drag ratio for the winglet was achieved at a cant angle of 30° and a sweep angle of 65°, which caused a 5.33% increase in the lift to drag ratio. The toe-out angle winglets as compared to the toe-in angles caused the lift to drag ratio to increase because of more attached flow at its surface. The maximum value of the lift to drag ratio was obtained with a toe-out angle (−5°) at an angle of attack 3° which was 2.53% greater than the zero-toed angle winglet. Originality/value This work is relatively unique because the cant, sweep and toe angles were analyzed altogether and led to a significant reduction in drag as compared to wing without winglet. The wing model was compared with the results provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration so this validated the simulation for different wing-winglet configurations.

2013 ◽  
pp. 90-101
Author(s):  
І. С. Кривохатько

In the last decade folding tube launch UAV became common, for which aerodynamic scheme "tandem" is reasonable. By the time tandem-wing aerodynamic characteristics are researched much less than ones of traditional scheme. Particularly it concerns wing dihedral angle effect on lift-to-drag ratio about which no quantitative data were found.Forward or rear wing dihedral angle appearance result in circulation redistribution and changing of rear wing induced drag. Rear wing dihedral angle effect on longitudinal aerodynamic performance of tandem-wing UAV model was researched through wind tunnel experiment. Geometry variables were forward and rear wing spans, rear wing dihedral angle and longitudinal stagger. Lift, drag and longitudinal moment coefficients were defined.The possibility of lift-to-drag ratio increasing at cruise regime was proofed. Rear wing negative dihedral angle application is able to increase maximal lift-to-drag ratio by more than 1.0 or about 10 %.It was found that wing dihedral angle effectiveness depends from relation of forward and rear wing spans and from longitudinal stagger. Longitudinal stagger increasing results in dihedral angle effectiveness falling if forward wing span is higher than rear wing. For bigger rear wing span increasing of longitudinal stagger results in dihedral angle effectiveness gaining. The hypothesis was declared that proposes theoretical explanation of experimentally founded dependencies.Also dihedral angle appearance increases lift slope because of rear wing carrying capacity gain and has almost no influence on maximal lift coefficient.All dependencies founded for rear wing negative dihedral angle are correct for forward wing positive dihedral angle except the last one is increasing longitudinal and lateral stability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.10) ◽  
pp. 637 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Senthil Kumar ◽  
R. Vijayanandh ◽  
N. Kaviarasan ◽  
R. Dinesh Kumar ◽  
I. Adrin Issai Arasu ◽  
...  

Prevailing norm is a fixed wing in a conventional aircraft, but the prospect appears bright for developing wings that could yield better aerodynamic properties with a change in the form and shape, this may have a wider application in future aviation. The main objective of this paper is to probe such a morphing technology in wings to improve their aerodynamic performance while operating at various cruise conditions. The airfoil is equipped with a rolling mechanism on its upper surface, operated by custom- designed controllers. This roller airfoil model will generate higher lift at low angles of attack and substantially increase flight performance, leading to the evolution of a create multiple-regime, aerodynamically efficient aircraft. This paper aims to compare the performance enhancement of roller airfoil over a conventional airfoil, by increasing the velocity at the upper surface of the airfoil to increase the lift to drag ratio using typical engineering analyses. The cambered airfoil chosen here is NACA 4412. Morphing concept brings about the improvement due to a reduction in lift-induced drag by promoting large laminar flow run on the upper surface of the wing.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 871-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tahani ◽  
M. Masdari ◽  
M. Kazemi

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the influence of the changings in geometrical parameters on the aerodynamic performance of the control canard projectiles. Design/methodology/approach Because of the mentioned point, the range of projectiles increment has a considerable importance, and the design algorithm of a control canard projectile was first written. Then, were studied the effects of canard geometric parameters such as aspect ratio, taper ratio and deflectable nose on lift to drag coefficient ratio, static margin based on the slender body theory and cross section flow. Findings The code results show that aspect ratio increment, results in an increase in lift-to-drag ratio of the missile, but increase in canard taper ratio results in increasing of lift-to-drag ratio at 1° angle of attack, while during increasing the canard taper ratio up to 0.67 at 4° angle of attack, lift to drag first reaches to maximum and then decreases. Also, static margin decreases with canard taper ratio and aspect ratio increment. The developed results for this type of missile were compared with same experimental and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) results and appreciated agreement with other results at angles of attack between 0° and 6°. Practical implications To design a control canard missile, the effect of each geometric parameter of canard needs to be estimated. For this purpose, the suitable algorithm is used. In this paper, the effects of canard geometric parameters, such as aspect ratio, taper ratio and deflectable nose on lift-to-drag coefficient ratio and static margin, were studied with help of the slender body theory and cross-section flow. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is to predict the aerodynamic characteristics for the control canard missile. In this study, the effect of the design parameter on aerodynamic characteristics can be estimated, and the effect of geometrical characteristics has been analyzed with a suitable algorithm. Also, the best lift-to-drag coefficient for the NASA Tandem Control Missile at Mach 1.75 was selected at various angles of attack. The developed results for this type of missile were compared with same experimental and CFD results.


Author(s):  
Nasim Chitsaz ◽  
Kamran Siddiqui ◽  
Romeo Marian ◽  
Javaan S. Chahl

Abstract In this study, computational fluid dynamics analysis was performed on a three-dimensional model of a Libellulidae wing to determine aerodynamic performance in gliding flight. The wing is comprised of various corrugated features alongside the spanwise and chordwise directions, as well as twist. The detailed features of real 3D dragonfly wing models, including all the corrugations through both span and chord, have not been considered in the past for a detailed aerodynamic analysis. The simulations were conducted by solving the Navier-Stokes equations to demonstrate gliding performance over a range of angles of attack at low Reynolds numbers. The numerical model was validated against experimental data obtained from a fabricated corrugated wing model using particle image velocimetry. The numerical results demonstrate that bio-inspired wings with corrugations compared to flat profile wings generate more lift with lower drag, trapping the vortices in the valleys of wing corrugation leading to delayed flow separation and delayed stall. The experimental and numerical results demonstrate that the methodology presented in this study can be used to measure bio-inspired 3D wing flow characteristics, including the influence of complex corrugations on aerodynamic performance. These findings contribute to the advancement of knowledge required for designing an optimized bioinspired micro air vehicle.


2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-378
Author(s):  
L. Christoffer Johansson ◽  
Björn S. Wetterholm Aldrin

SUMMARY To examine the propulsion mechanism of diving Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica), their three-dimensional kinematics was investigated by digital analysis of sequential video images of dorsal and lateral views. During the dives of this wing-propelled bird, the wings are partly folded, with the handwings directed backwards. The wings go through an oscillating motion in which the joint between the radius-ulna and the hand bones leads the motion, with the wing tip following. There is a large rotary motion of the wings during the stroke, with the wings being pronated at the beginning of the downstroke and supinated at the end of the downstroke/beginning of the upstroke. Calculated instantaneous velocities and accelerations of the bodies of the birds show that, during the downstroke, the birds accelerate upwards and forwards. During the upstroke, the birds accelerate downwards and, in some sequences analysed, also forwards, but in most cases the birds decelerate. In all the upstrokes analysed, the forward/backward acceleration shows the same pattern, with a reduced deceleration or even a forward acceleration during ‘mid’ upstroke indicating the production of a forward force, thrust. Our results show that the Atlantic puffin can use an active upstroke during diving, in contradiction to previous data. Furthermore, we suggest that the partly folded wings of diving puffins might act as efficient aft-swept wingtips, reducing the induced drag and increasing the lift-to-drag ratio. A movie is available on-line.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Y. Zhang ◽  
X. Zhang ◽  
G. Chen

ABSTRACT The aerodynamic performance of a deployable and low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is investigated and improved in present work. The parameters of configuration, such as airfoil and winglet, are determined via an optimising process based on a discrete adjoint method. The optimised target is locked on an increasing lift-to-drag ratio with a limited variation of pitching moments. The separation that will lead to a stall is delayed after optimisation. Up to 128 design variables are used by the optimised solver to give enough flexibility of the geometrical transformation. As much as 20% enhancement of lift-to-drag ratio is gained at the cruise angle-of-attack, that is, a significant improvement in the lift-to-drag ratio adhering to the preferred configuration is obtained with increasing lift and decreasing drag coefficients, essentially entailing an improved aerodynamic performance.


Meccanica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 1917-1947
Author(s):  
J. E. Guerrero ◽  
M. Sanguineti ◽  
K. Wittkowski

Abstract Traditional winglets are designed as fixed devices attached at the tips of the wings. The primary purpose of the winglets is to reduce the lift-induced drag, therefore improving aircraft performance and fuel efficiency. However, because winglets are fixed surfaces, they cannot be used to control lift-induced drag reductions or to obtain the largest lift-induced drag reductions at different flight conditions (take-off, climb, cruise, loitering, descent, approach, landing, and so on). In this work, we propose the use of variable cant angle winglets which could potentially allow aircraft to get the best all-around performance (in terms of lift-induced drag reduction), at different flight phases. By using computational fluid dynamics, we study the influence of the winglet cant angle and sweep angle on the performance of a benchmark wing at Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.8395. The results obtained demonstrate that by adjusting the cant angle, the aerodynamic performance can be improved at different flight conditions.


Author(s):  
Mukesh Guggilla ◽  
Vijayakumar Rajagopalan

Abstract Underwater Gliders are unique buoyancy propelled oceanographic profiling vehicles. Their speed and endurance in longitudinal motion are affected by the symmetry, sweep dihedral angle and span of the control surfaces. In the low-velocity regime, these parameters can be varied to examine the flow around the glider. They also affect the lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) essential for the manoeuvring path in longitudinal and transverse motions. In this paper, the sweep angle of the main wing of a blended wing autonomous underwater glider configuration is varied as 10°, 15°, 30°, 45° and 60° and the resulting hull forms are numerically simulated in the commercial software, STARCCM+. The main wing is a tapered NACA0018 section (taken as per the general arrangement requirement) with 1.5m chord at the root and 0. 1m at the tip. The numerical model is validated using the CFD results of NACA0012 airfoil from Sun.C et al, 2015 [1]. The hydrodynamic forces are obtained by varying the angle of attack (α) of the body from −15° to 15°, for flow velocity of 0.4m/s. The hydrodynamic coefficients (lift-to-drag ratios) and flow physics around the wing are analyzed to arrive at an optimum Lift-to-drag ratio for increased endurance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 393 ◽  
pp. 366-371
Author(s):  
C.F. Mat Taib ◽  
Abdul Aziz Jaafar ◽  
Salmiah Kasolang

The study on the effect of winglet shape in wing design has been a focus of many researchers. Nevertheless, the effect of cant angle on the wing performances at low Reynolds number has not been fully explored. This paper describes the effect of a single semi-circular shaped winglet attached with a rectangular wing model to lower the drag without increasing the span of the wing. Aerodynamic characteristics for the rectangular wing (NACA 65-3-218) with and without semi-circular winglets have been studied using STAR CCM+ 4.0. This numerical analysis is based on Finite Volume Approach. Simulations were carried out on the rectangular wing model with and without winglet at aspect ratio of 2.73 and Reynolds number of 0.16 x 10 6 for various angles of attack. From the numerical analysis, wing performance characteristics in terms of lift coefficient CL, drag coefficient CD, and lift-to-drag ratio, CL/CD were obtained. It was found that the addition of a semi-circular winglet has resulted in a larger lift curve slope and higher Lift-to-Drag ratio in comparison with the case of a wing without winglet. Further investigation has revealed that a wing with semi-circular winglet with cant angle of 45 degree has produced the best Lift-to-Drag ratio, CL/CD.


Author(s):  
Joel Guerrero ◽  
Kevin Wittkowski ◽  
Marco Sanguineti

Traditional winglets are designed as fixed devices attached at the tips of the wings. The primary purpose of the winglets is to reduce the lift-induced drag, therefore improving aircraft performance and fuel efficiency. However, because winglets are fixed surfaces, they cannot be used to control lift-induced drag reductions or to obtain the largest lift-induced drag reductions at different flight conditions (take-off, climb, cruise, loitering, descent, approach, landing, and so on). In this work, we propose the use of variable cant angle winglets which could potentially allow aircraft to get the best all-around performance (in terms of lift-induced drag reduction), at different flight phases. By using computational fluid dynamics, we study the influence of the winglet cant angle and sweep angle on the performance of a benchmark wing at Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.8395. The results obtained demonstrate that by adjusting the cant angle, the aerodynamic performance can be improved at different flight conditions.


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