See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/321315585

Aircrafts winglets analysis in CFD

Research · November 2017

CITATIONS READS

0 21,439

1 author:

Pritam Jodha
University of Derby
2 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Pritam Jodha on 27 November 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Engineering

Independent study and professional development

2014-2015

Final year Report

Aircrafts winglets analysis in CFD

Project Supervisor: Dr Klaudio Bari

Student: Pritam Jodha (100365727)

1
 Abstract

The main purpose of this project is learning and analysing the aerodynamics
performance of Wing and different types of winglets with wings. The aerofoils NACA
2411, NACA0010 and NACA0012 designed in solid works and gone through flow
simulation in solid works. The best aerodynamically performed aerofoil NACA 2411 in
terms of aerodynamic efficiency chosen for wing construction which has dimensions
of Airbus A320. The simulation of a wing without winglet and after three wing models
with different winglets were carried out. Wing with Blended winglet, Ranked winglet
and wingtip Fence simulated to find the aerodynamic efficiency. In order to found more
efficient wing with winglets, designs of Blended and Ranked winglets modified. 5 wing
with Blended winglet and 5 wings with Ranked winglet designed. These 10 wings with
winglets studied and simulated in STAR CCM+. As a result of this project it has found
that adding the winglet to the wing increase the aerodynamic efficiency of wing in terms
of Cl/Cd.

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my Supervisor Dr. Klaudio Bari for his help and support to
complete this project. Also, my second supervisor Dr. Yiling Lu who assist me in
report and Dr. Dani Harmanto who help me to learn the STAR-CCM+. Also like to
thank my family for their love and support. It is their guidance and care that has
made me who I am today. Special thanks to my father who always supported me in
everything.

3
 Table of contents

Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 3

Table of contents .................................................................................................................................... 4

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 10

2 Aims............................................................................................................................................... 11

3 Objectives...................................................................................................................................... 11

4 Literature review........................................................................................................................... 12

4.1 History of flight ..................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Aerofoil Geometry [] ............................................................................................................. 13
4.2.1 Camber .......................................................................................................................... 14
4.2.2 Aerofoil Thickness to Chord Ratio ................................................................................. 15
4.3 Wing Geometry and Characteristics ..................................................................................... 15
4.4 Aerodynamic Forces [] .......................................................................................................... 16
4.5 Wingtip vortex ...................................................................................................................... 18
4.6 Winglets ................................................................................................................................ 21
4.6.1 How the winglets work ................................................................................................. 23
4.7 Types of winglet .................................................................................................................... 24
4.7.1 Blended winglets ........................................................................................................... 25
4.7.2 Wingtip fence ................................................................................................................ 26
4.7.3 Ranked wingtips ............................................................................................................ 27
4.8 Winglet Geometry [] [18] ...................................................................................................... 27
4.9 The CFD ................................................................................................................................. 29
4.9.1 SOLID WORKS ................................................................................................................ 29
4.9.2 STAR CCM+ and Validation ........................................................................................... 29
5 Research done on this topic.......................................................................................................... 30

6 The designing process ................................................................................................................... 31

6.1 2D CFD Modelling ................................................................................................................. 31

6.2 Boundary conditions ............................................................................................................. 32
6.3 Simulation results of Aerofoils .......................................................................................... 33

4
 6.4 3D Wing design ..................................................................................................................... 34
6.4.1 Wing design in solid works............................................................................................ 37
6.5 Winglet design ...................................................................................................................... 41
6.5.1 Blended winglet: ........................................................................................................... 41
6.5.2 Ranked winglets ............................................................................................................ 42
6.5.3 Wingtip Fence ............................................................................................................... 43
6.6 3D simulations setup............................................................................................................. 44
6.7 Results and Discussion ..................................................................................................... 45
7 Designing more efficient Winglets ................................................................................................ 50

7.1 Blended winglets ................................................................................................................... 51

7.2 Ranked Winglets ................................................................................................................... 52
8 Simulation in STAR CCM+.............................................................................................................. 53

8.1 Simulation setup ................................................................................................................... 54

8.1.1 Domain setup ................................................................................................................ 54
8.1.2 Mesh Setup ................................................................................................................... 54
8.1.3 Mesh Results ................................................................................................................. 55
8.1.4 Boundary conditions ..................................................................................................... 55
8.1.5 Reports .......................................................................................................................... 57
9 Results and Discussion .................................................................................................................. 58

9.1 Lift, drag and CL/CD results................................................................................................... 58

9.1.1 Wing without Winglets ................................................................................................. 58
9.1.2 Wing with Ranked winglets:.......................................................................................... 58
9.1.3 Wings with Blended winglets Results: .......................................................................... 58
9.2 Wing model selection by Cl/Cd values .................................................................................. 59
9.2.1 Wing with Blended winglet results in term of Cl/Cd..................................................... 59
9.2.2 Wing with Ranked winglet Results in terms of Cl/Cd ................................................... 60
9.2.3 Final Selection of most efficient winglet with wing ...................................................... 61
9.3 Velocity Results ..................................................................................................................... 62
9.3.1 Wing without winglet velocity distribution .................................................................. 63
9.3.2 Wings with Blended winglets velocity Distribution ...................................................... 63
9.3.3 Wings with Ranked winglet velocity Distribution ......................................................... 63
10 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 64

11 Recommendation.......................................................................................................................... 65

12 Future work ................................................................................................................................... 65

5
13 References .................................................................................................................................... 67

6
 Table of Figures

Figure 1 Aerofoil Geometry [] ................................................................................... 13

Figure 2 Symmetrical v/s Asymmetrical Aerofoil [] .................................................. 14

Figure 3 Aerofoil t/c Ratio ......................................................................................... 15

Figure 4 Image shows the aircraft Wing Geometry .................................................. 15

Figure 5 Aerodynamic Forces [] ............................................................................ 17

Figure 6 Image shows an Aircraft leaving vortex trail behind [] ........................... 18

Figure 7 Image shows the process of Air Vortex on aircraft wings [] .................. 19

Figure 8 The process of Air vortex developing ....................................................... 20

Figure 9 Image shows a flock of Northern bald ibises flying in V shape to get efficient
flight. []...................................................................................................................... 21

Figure 10 .....A bird with winglet shape wings (an article on birds that led Whitcomb to
develop the winglets) []............................................................................................. 21

Figure 11 Image shows the A350’s winglets [] ....................................................... 22

Figure 12 Image shows the Difference in vortex without and with winglet [] ........... 24

Figure 13 Image shows Blended winglets on Boeing 767-300BCF [] ................... 25

Figure 14 Image shows the Wingtip fence on aircraft wing. [] ................................. 26

Figure 15 Image shows Ranked wingtips [] ............................................................. 27

Figure 16 Image Shows the Geometric quantities used to define a winglet [20] ...... 28

Figure 17 Image shows The ONERA M6 wing in STAR-CCM+ [22] ....................... 29

Figure 18 Graph shows the CL vs AOA values of NACA0012 [22] ........................ 30

Figure 19 shows NACA 0012 Aerofoil .................................................................... 31

Figure 20 shows NACA 2411 ................................................................................... 32

Figure 21 shows NACA 0010 ................................................................................... 32

Figure 22 Aerofoil Selection by Cl/Cd....................................................................... 33

Figure 23 Lift vs AOA of 3 aerofoils .......................................................................... 34

Figure 24 A320 MANUAL [] ...................................................................................... 35

7
Figure 25 A320 MANUAL [24] .................................................................................. 36

Figure 26 A320 wing with Dimensions ..................................................................... 37

Figure 27 Image shows the wing design with its dimensions. .................................. 38

Figure 28 Three Planes in Solid works ..................................................................... 39

Figure 29 aerofoil input on Planes ........................................................................... 40

Figure 30 placing the aerofoil at right location ......................................................... 40

Figure 31 Image shows the final design of wing created in solid works ................... 41

Figure 32 Image shows the wing with blended winglet............................................. 42

Figure 33 Image shows the Ranked winglet attached on wing ................................. 42

Figure 35 Chart shows comparison of different wings with Cl/Cd values ................. 46

Figure 36 chart shows vorticity values of different wing designs .............................. 47

Figure 37 Vorticity results of wing without winglets .................................................. 49

Figure 38 Image show the air vortex reduction at wingtip by using winglet…………49

Figure 39 Wing with 5 different types of winglets ..................................................... 51

Figure 40 Image show wing with 5 different types of Ranked winglets..................... 52

Figure 41 Image shows the Block and Cylinder parts which allows to create mesh
around these parts ................................................................................................... 53

Figure 42 Image shows the domain parameters of wing. ........................................ 54

Figure 43 Table shows Values of Mesh controls properties .................................... 54

Figure 44 Image shows the meshed Wing and Wing Domain .................................. 55

Figure 45 Image shows the selected models under Physics for this study.............. 56

Figure 46 Column Chart Shows CL/ CD values compression between wing without
winglet and wing with 5 different Blended winglets. ................................................. 59

Figure 47 Column Chart Shows Cl/Cd values compression between wing without
winglet and wing with 5 different Ranked winglets ................................................... 60

Figure 48 Chart shows Cl/Cd values of wing without winglet, wing with Blended
winglet 2 and wing with Ranked winglet 1. ............................................................... 61

Figure 49 shows Velocity magnitude on plane behind wing without winglet. ............ 62

8
Figure 50 Shows Velocity magnitude on plane behind wing with Blended winglet2. 62

List of Tables

Table 1 Table shows the Design and Performance parameters of aerofoil for the
wing design .............................................................................................................. 13

Table 2 Table Shows the simulation results of different wings ................................. 45

Table 3 the comparison of 2 wing design for final wing design ................................ 48

Table 4 Table shows the Results of Wing without winglet ........................................ 58

Table 5 Table shows the Results of wings with all 5 different Ranked winglets ....... 58

Table 6 Table shows the Results of all wings with all 5 different Blended winglets .. 58

Table 7 Shows Cl/Cd value improvement by using winglets. ................................... 59

Table 8 Shows Cl/Cd value improvement by using winglets. ................................... 60

Table 9 show velocity magnitude of wing without winglet ......................................... 63

Table 10 shows velocity magnitude results for all 5 wings with Blended winglets. ... 63

Table 11 shows velocity magnitude results for all 5 wings with Ranked winglets. .... 63

9
1 INTRODUCTION
The 1950’s saw the beginning of the jet age in our world. In that period, reducing fuel
consumption and thereby reducing carbon emissions significantly was one of the
foremost responsibilities of aircraft manufacturers. They managed to achieve this
difficult task, by changing the wing and fuselage designs, further reducing the
airplane mass which resulted in less fuel being carried and burnt.

The device attached at the wingtip is called winglet. It is used to lower the induced
drag created by wingtip vortices which improves aircraft efficiency. Winglets can be
seen as a vertical or angled extension at the wingtip. Winglets increases the effective
aspect ratio of wing by defusing the wingtip vortex shed that reduces drag ratio. This
cause less fuel consumption.

In 1970’s Richard Whitcomb an engineer at NASA’s Langley Research centre

started research into winglet technology for commercial uses. In 1979 and 1980
small vertical fins installed on KC-135A were tested. As results Richard Whitcomb
illumined that attaching winglets on full size aircraft can provide efficiency of more
than 7%. That saves millions of pounds in fuel cost. Now days winglets are using by
most commercial and military transport jets such as Gulfstream III, IV and V
(Renamed to G550) business jets, the Boeing 747-400 and McDonnell Douglas MD-
11 airliners, the McDonnell Douglas C-17 military transport, airbus A300, A320,
A380, A350XWB jetliner etc. according to airbus ‘‘These devices improve
aerodynamics, reducing fuel burn by up to 4 per cent – which amounts to annual
savings of more than 900 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft’’. [1] [2]

Aerodynamics is responsible for this great green effect we witness, by helping to

reduce the fuel consumption, by changing the airplane wing design, winglet design in
order to overcome the effect of vorticity affecting on the lift of the aircraft.

10
2 Aims

1. Essentially the aim of this project is to analyse the aerodynamic performance in

terms of Lift to Drag Coefficient of wing without winglet and wing with winglet.

2. Ascertaining the best performance winglet in terms of Cl/Cd.

3. Improving the efficiency of the wings by modifying the winglets.

4. Investigating the lift force and drag force on wing without winglet and with
winglets.

3 Objectives

1. To learn the aerodynamics of aircraft wings in flowing air.

2. Learning the Solid works for professional uses by designing the aerofoils, wings,
winglets and carry the various simulations.
3. Computer modelling a successful 3D wing of airbus A320 without winglet.
4. Design 3 types of winglets, attached with wing in solid works.
5. Acquire the academic knowledge of designing the efficient wing model and
winglets.
6. Learning the CFD Analysis in STAR-CCM+ for different wing designs.
7. Modify winglets to improve their efficiency and simulate in STAR-CCM+.
8. Simulation results will be thoroughly discussed and compared to the found
efficient winglet model with wings.
9. Assess the results of this project the winglet with high efficiency in terms of Cl/Cd
will be found.

11
4 Literature review

4.1 History of flight

The flying birds in the sky make human to dream flight. After centuries of research’s
and developments that dream of flight came true. Still human are learning from birds
about flight. Today the history of aviation is spacious extended from a simple kite to
supersonic aircrafts. The sector of aviation is so vast, which is always cultivating and
reaching many milestones for better performance.

The invention of aircraft begin in 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Lots of researches
been conducted, theories developed, real life testes and ended up with some
successful gliders. The start of 19th century change the aviation history. In aircraft
many advancement made in aerodynamics, instruments, flight controls, etc. that
leads today advanced efficient aircrafts.

From early days wing is the most fundamental part of aircraft structure. This the part
which generate the lift force and this force carry the load of aircraft. Designing of the
aircrafts always involves advance optimisation of wing, which gives efficient aircraft
structure.

12
4.2 Aerofoil Geometry [3]
The aerofoil is a surface which is designed to gain an alluring response from the air
through which it moves. An aerofoil could be any part of aircraft which obtain the
force from air and that force useful for flight. The wings have special shape which
makes air moves faster over the wing compare to the underneath. A horizontal wing
section cut in the half to the wing section and parallel to the centre line the shape
come is called aerofoil shown below.

Figure 1 Aerofoil Geometry [4]

The selection of aerofoil for wing is very important in the wing design because the lift
generated by wing all depend on aerofoil parameters. The performance and the design
parameters has to be considered. The table below shows the design and performance
parameters. [5]

Design Parameters Performance Parameters

Shape of Aerofoil Max lift co efficient.
Chord length of aerofoil Minimum drag co efficient.
Thickness of aerofoil Max lift angle.
Aerofoil camber Lift curve slope.
Table 1 Table shows the Design and Performance parameters of aerofoil for the
wing design

13
4.2.1 Camber

Camber is a point at equal distance from the top and bottom surfaces of aerofoil. A
line from leading edge to trailing edge and at the equidistant from aerofoil lower and
upper surface called Camber line (shows in Figure 1 Aerofoil Geometry []). The
maximum distance between chamber line and chord line called maximum chord of
the section. Those aerofoils have similar lower and upper surface known as
symmetrical aerofoil (shown below in figure 2). These aerofoils cord line is not much
curved that make aerofoil shape not much curved and results less lift generation.

Aerofoils which have difference in upper and lower surface called Asymmetrical
(shown below in figure 2). These aerofoils have more lift because the shape of
aerofoils is more curved that create more pressure difference at upper and lower
surface which produce lift. [3]

Figure 2 Symmetrical v/s Asymmetrical Aerofoil [6]

14
4.2.2 Aerofoil Thickness to Chord Ratio
The Aerofoil thickness to chord Ratio is the ratio between aerofoil maximum
thicknesses (CD in Figure 3 ) of an aerofoil section and cord length (AB in Figure 3)
of aerofoil. The aerofoil Thickness to Chord ratio measured as a percentage of the
chord length.

Figure 3 Aerofoil t/c Ratio

4.3 Wing Geometry and Characteristics

The wing is an important part of the aircraft which makes it able to fly. The wing
generate the lift force for the aircraft that why the design of wings is an important part
and all other parts depend on that. Wing also generate the drag force. While
designing the wing the Lift force has to be maximize and Drag to be minimized. The
drag force has to be less then Lift force to fly.

Figure 4 Image shows the aircraft Wing Geometry

15
4.3.1.1 Wingspan
The wingspan is the distance between the aircrafts wingtips shown in Figure 4
above. While designing the aircraft it is very important to choose the suitable
wingspan because it have relation with induce drag and weight. The large wingspan
help to minimise the induce drag but it also increase the structural weight. This
increase in structural weight cause rise in induced drag. [7]

4.3.1.2 Chords
There is two chords Root Chord (Cr) and Tip Chord (Ct) shown above in Figure 4.
The length of aircraft wing tip is called Tip Chord (Ct). The distance between the
intersections with the fuselage centre line of the leading and trailing edges produced.
The Ratio between Tip chord and Root Chord called taper ratio. Keeping the taper
ratio as small as possible keeps the wing weight down. [8]

𝑪𝒕𝒊𝒑
𝛌 = 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨 = Equation (1)
𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕

4.4 Aerodynamic Forces [9]

The term aerodynamic deal with theory of flight. Aerodynamic words derived from two
Greek word aer means ‘air’ and dynamic means forces of power. Aerodynamic refer
to the study of object in motion of working fluid like air which help to develop the forces
to moves the aircraft. On the aircraft four different types of forces are act, which
balance the aircraft or aeroplane when it’s moving through the air with relative motion
.the forces act on aircraft are as follow.

Weight = weight is acting downward due to the force of gravity , this force acting on
everything such as aircraft itself ,the payload ,the fuel ,the crew, etc.

Thrust = the forces which help to move an aircraft in forward motion, against the
drag to high thrust.

16
 Figure 5 Aerodynamic Forces [10]

Lift = Lift acts equally opposite to weight in upward direction, it’s nothing but a
balancing force in the aircraft. The Lift force generated by wing is cause by pressure
different at lower and upper surface. The wings are designed to move air faster over
the wing then below. When air moves fast at top that create low pressure at top and
at beneath of wing there is high pressure which push wing upward. This upward
force lifts the wing into the air and that called Lift or Lift force. In the wing designing
process it is most important to calculate the Aerodynamic forces wing lift, wing drag.
There is Varity of tools and software’s available for calculations.

The lift can be defined by the following Equation:

1
𝐿= × 𝜌 × 𝑉 2 × 𝐴 × 𝐶𝑙 Equation (2)
2

Where:
 = density of the fluid through which wing is moving (kg/m3).
V = the speed of wing relative to the fluid (m2/s).
A = the area of wing (m2).
𝐶𝑙 = coefficient of lift.

Drag = drag is the deterrent force or backward forces developed due to disruption in
the airflow pattern caused by wings, fuselage and other part of body of aircraft.
The Drag can be defined by the following Equation:

17
 1
𝐷= × 𝜌 × 𝑉 2 × 𝐴 × 𝐶𝑑 Equation (3)
2

Where:
 = density of the fluid through which wing is moving (kg/m3).
V = the speed of wing relative to the fluid (m2/s).
A = the area of wing (m2).
𝐶𝑑 = coefficient of drag.

4.5 Wingtip vortex

Figure 6 Image shows an Aircraft leaving vortex trail behind [11]

We have seen that aircrafts left cloud colour trails behind in sky as shown in Figure
above that is vortex. Wingtip vortexes are caused by pressure differences between
upper and lower surface of wing. A wing producing lift has a lower static pressure at
upper surface then the lower surface. At the wing tip the pressure is equalized by the
air flowing around the wing from lower part of the wing to the upper part of the wing,
so air flows from below (high pressure) the wing to top (lower pressure) of wing
around wingtip it create circular motion. This motion of air known as vortex as shown
in figure below.

18
 Figure 7 Image shows the process of Air Vortex on aircraft wings [12]

An additional downwash behind the aircraft wing within the wingspan are the result
of the wingtip vortex (can be seen in Figure 8 process stage 2). All the air flow
inside the vortex system flows downwards which called downwash. The air outside
the system of vortex flows upwards known as Upwash. In flight Aircrafts leave vortex
at path behind in a pattern in order of downwash, up wash (can be seen in Figure 8
process stage 4). If an aircraft comes through the same flight path it will go through
the vortex left by previous aircraft. The vortex which is already exist in path will
change the pattern of coming aircrafts vortex to upwash, downwash, and upwash
that order. That can cause un-stable situation for aircraft coming behind.

19
 Figure 8 The process of Air vortex developing

The change of downwash to the upwash can become very huge at the vortices
behind wing tips. This results instability, uncontrollable rolls and unexpected loss of
altitude in aircraft flight. The vortices strength depends on aircraft weight, speed and
shape. The heavy aircrafts leaves the strongest and dangerous vortices especially in
at slow speed, clean gear and flaps-up conditions such landing approaches. Large
jetliner can leave vortices up to 150 mph or more in rotational velocity. That can be
discovered at distance of 20miles. At the lower altitudes during landing approaches
there have been incidents. If a small aircraft follow the same flight path of large
aircraft, small aircraft can get into dangerous rolling motion and became
uncontrollable. A safe separation distance between different sizes of aircrafts during
take-off establish by FAA (Federal aviation administration). [13]

20
These birds shown in Figure 9 are the best example of reducing air vortex. These
birds gaining lift from upwash and bypassing the downwash created in middle by
using V shape.

Figure 9 Image shows a flock of Northern bald ibises flying in V shape to get efficient
flight. [14]

4.6 Winglets

Figure 10 A bird with winglet shape wings (an article on birds that led Whitcomb
to develop the winglets) [15]

21
 Figure 11 Image shows the A350’s winglets [16]

Winglets are the wingtip devices developed to reduce the vortex and improve the
fuel efficiency of the aircrafts by lowering the lift-induced drag by moving the interflow
of low pressure and high pressure away from wing surface. The winglets increases
the rate of climb and take off performance. As the winglets reduce drag that shorten
the take-off distance and the winglets increase lift to drag ratio which makes aircraft
able to take off with heavy weight.

If span of wing is extended that also lower the lift induced drag but it increases the
parasitic drag and would require more strength and more weight. So winglets is
better way to reducing this drag and more efficient. Winglets also provide higher
optimum altitude and higher residual aircraft value. As winglets increase the range of
aircraft which is very helpful in case of engine failure.

In 1970’s winglets were introduced. An article on birds guide Mr. Richard Whitcomb
to innovate the winglet. In 1979 the first winglets were attached vertical at wingtip
designed by Richard Whitcomb of the Langley Research Centre and tested on the jet
aircraft KC-135 loaned to NASA by Air Force. In flight results researcher found that
wingtip vortex reduced. The winglets are now use by most commercial and military
transport jets. As winglets have excellent benefits manufacturers start adding the
winglets in aircrafts by making some changes in wing internal design. A subsonic

22
wind –tunnel test conducted on different types of winglets at Brazilian Research
Agency for Aeronautics and Astronautics named Centro Tecnico Aeroespacial (CTA)
and some winglets with best performance were selected for further analysis. Results
also shows the benefits of the winglets fitting onto the existing aircrafts. In 1991 a
prototype of twin-pusher CBA-123 with an Elementary design was flown to gather
flight test data. Based on researches and flight test performance the winglets of EMB
145 AEW&C were designed. In order to get more efficiency some modifications were
made on tip of winglets. After many years of effort a winglet design gives Embraer
EMB 145 AEW&C a significant rise in the range of aircraft, was conceived to fly at a
subsonic condition with a high lift coefficient.

These efficient results made manufactures to manufacture aircraft with winglets,

Embraer 170,175,195 were manufactured with winglets. The wind tunnel facilities at
Netherland and Russia also get the results of significant drag reduction by using
winglets. After that the development of winglets start rapidly and today it’s been used
by almost all the aircraft companies. Today winglets are not popular aircraft
industries they also used in high speed cars, wind turbines etc. [17]
[18] [2] [1]

4.6.1 How the winglets work

Winglets are extension at wingtip vary in designs. Designed from Aerofoils to reduce
the wingtip vortices results less drag more efficiency, less fuel consumption, less Co2
exhaust. In the flight high pressure air flow beneath the wing and when it goes to low
pressure air which coming from over the wing it makes vortex that create drag. The
winglets create a barrier that break the vortex this cause small vortex and less drag
as shown in picture below. This less drag reduces the energy to put on engine to
move forward and this is the why fuel consumption goes down. When the rotating air
around the wingtip comes in contact with winglet it direct this in another direction,
also reduce the vortex strength by using extra force (as shown in Figure 12). This
little contribution of force saves lots more force to put on aircraft to move forward.
[19]

23
 Figure 12 Image shows the Difference in vortex without and with winglet [20]

4.7 Types of winglet

The First winglet designed by Mr. Richard Whitcomb was a small vertical extension
at wing tip but for the better preformation lots of modifications made, lots designs
created and best designs were selected. Today Lots of winglet design exits such as
blended winglets, Raked wingtips, Non-planer wingtip, wingtip fence, split scimitar
winglets, Hybrid design, etc. some best design which are used mostly because of
their better performance are Ranked wingtips, Blended winglets, wingtip fence.

24
4.7.1 Blended winglets

The Blended winglets are the most popular winglets in the aircraft industries, used by
Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier, Russian Tupolev, etc. In 1990 the McDonnell Douglas
MD-11 aircraft introduced these blended winglets. Boeing came up with a new
design, Rather than an abrupt and sharp change up, like the winglets on the 747-
400, by curving the gently and raising upwards they could get the increased benefits
without needing giant wings. Later Embraer and Airbus also have same design of
winglets.

Airbus put the blended winglets on A320 family as Airbus gave the unique design to
these winglets they call it ‘Sarklets’. The winglets inward angle, upward angle, size
and shape all depends on its performance and unique performance. Airbus winglets
are 2.5 meter in height. This winglets was added on excites A320 and start making
new models of A320 and A330 with blended winglets. The E170/190 of Embraer also
have similar design of winglets. [21] 22

Figure 13 Image shows Blended winglets on Boeing 767-300BCF [23]

25
4.7.2 Wingtip fence

This types of winglets extended at the wingtip in both directions upward and
downwards. In this types of winglets it already exits the blended winglet and adds
another winglet downwards, to increase the surface area and get more efficiency to
the existing winglets.

This winglet is the new Boeing ‘‘advanced technology winglet’’. That was
manufacture on 737 MAX. According to Boeing ‘‘that this winglet will increase fuel
efficiency 1.5% greater than what the current blended winglet will provide’’. As it’s
mixed with raked winglets it’s called ‘‘Dual Feather wingtip design’’. Today it’s Mostly
used by Airbus, it design its own winglets. The Airbus 1st used this winglets on A300.
Today it giving its performance on A300, A310, A319, A380, etc. [19] [24]

Figure 14 Image shows the Wingtip fence on aircraft wing. [25]

26
4.7.3 Ranked wingtips

Ranked wingtips are look like just wing span extension but it have higher degree of
sweep then the rest of wing. The main advantage of this type of winglets is the
simplicity of its design. That makes it easy to manufacture and add on aircrafts. They
are a type of winglets generally known as integrated wingtip extensions as they are
horizontal extension on existing wing. This winglets improve the fuel economy,
performance of climb and minimise the take-off length. It balances the aircraft
weight and the cruise efficiency to get better range. Test data of Boeing and NASA
shows that ‘‘wingtips have been shown to reduce drag by as much as 5.5%, as
opposed to improvements of 3.5% to 4.5% from conventional winglets’’. This
winglets use on Boeing 747-8, Boeing 787, Boeing 777, Airbus A350, etc. [26]

Figure 15 Image shows Ranked wingtips [27]

4.8 Winglet Geometry [28] [19]

Winglet Aerofoil
The aerofoil of winglet can be same as wing, also can be change according to
requirement of lift and drag.

Chord Distribution
The small chord distribution demands high CL and when chord distribution is too big
then the load of winglet causes outboard section of wing to stall prematurely.

Winglet Height
The winglet height controls the ideal affected drag and profile drag relationship.

27
Twist / Sweep
The angle of Twist/Sweep have similar impact on winglet and they tailor the load
distribution. (Shown in figure 16 below)

Toe Angle
The toe angle controls the winglets overall loading. It effects the load distribution on
wing and it is ideal for one flight condition. Toe angle can be see below in Image.

Figure 16 Image Shows the Geometric quantities used to define a winglet [28]

28
4.9 The CFD

4.9.1 SOLID WORKS

Solid works is well known for CAD, it also have CAE and CFD. It gives a smooth
platform to user for CAD. This project wing models designed in solid works.

4.9.2 STAR CCM+ and Validation

This software is very well known in commercial and military aircraft industry for
predicting the aerodynamic performance. As this software company always compare
experiment data from workshop and the results from software simulation, which is
satisfactory. I am using one of the validation paper ‘Validation of STAR-CCM+ for
External Aerodynamics in the Aerospace Industry’ [29] and ‘Aerospace special
report’ [30] launched by STAR CCM+

In relation to my study these paper have 3 validation which very similar case.

1) ONERA M6 Validation CASE

Figure 17 Image shows The ONERA M6 wing in STAR-CCM+ [29]

This validation carried out at University of Czestochowa, Poland. In this case a 3D

wing studied at 2 different angle of attack. The simulation results and experimental
results compared, which found very similar.

2) Lift and Drag Prediction for NACA0012

29
 This validation studied CL, CD and velocity magnitude on different angle of attack,
use trimmer mesh, physics model (these models are similar to my study) and 47m/s
velocity. The results again nearly same as experimental data shown in image below.
[29]

Figure 18 Graph shows the CL vs AOA values of NACA0012 [29]

3) Numerical simulation of Trapezoidal wing

This report shows the STAR-CCM+ results compare to the NASA results of tapered
wing geometry. The results of Cl, Cd on different AOA are very similar to NASA
results. [30]

5 Research done on this topic

Previous published work on similar configuration by [31] examined multi winglets to
improve performance of wing. Used NACA0012 for untwisted, rectangular wing and
flat plates for winglets. The results of study shows that use of winglets improve L/D
by 15-30% compare with wing without winglet.

Publish work by [2] also found that adding the winglets to the wing increase the
performance of an aircraft and reduce the fuel consumption.

The study [32] has analysed the performance of wing without winglet and wing with
winglet. The results found that adding the winglets to wing increase Lift production
and CL/CD increase by 7.1%.

30
6 The designing process
In this project I have used Solid works 2014 to design- Aerofoil design, 2d simulation
of aerofoils, wing design and winglets. This software give a smooth platform to
design aerofoil, 3D wing from Aerofoils and winglets.

Design of wing based on Aerofoils. Different aerofoils have different values of lift and
drag. For this project 3 different Aerofoils NACA0012, NACA0010 and NACA2411
has taken for analysis. 2D simulations will carried out for each aerofoil at various
angle of attack to find values of CL (coefficient of lift) and CD (coefficient of drag).
After comparing the results of simulations of all aerofoils the best performed aerofoil
selected and the wing will designed with that.

6.1 2D CFD Modelling

The selected Aerofoils for this project are 4 digit aerofoils NACA0012, NACA0010
and NACA2411. The coordinates of these aerofoils were taken from website
http://airfoiltools.com/airfoil/naca4digit . These aerofoils modelled in Solid works
shown below in figures.

Figure 19 shows NACA 0012 Aerofoil

31
 Figure 20 shows NACA 2411

Figure 21 shows NACA 0010

Now these aerofoils put into wind tunnel for simulations. The parameters of wind
tunnel are below
Parameters Values (m)
Length 10
Height 6
Width 0.01

If these parameter increase the time taken in simulation results will also increase.

6.2 Boundary conditions

The boundary conditions of wind tunnel used for this project for all Aerofoils are
enclosed below

Flow liquid = air

Temperature = 293.2k
Pressure = 101325Pa
Density p = 1.225kg/m3
Velocity = 60m/s
Turbulence intensity = 0.2 %

32
After setting up all boundary conditions simulations can be run. For each aerofoil 7
simulations run on vary angle of attack these angles are 0°, 4°, 8°, 10°, 14°, 18°, 20°.

6.3 Simulation results of Aerofoils

The CFD Simulations Results data was collected of 3 different aerofoils and on 7
different angle of attack so all together 21 simulations has been carried out. The
obtaining the results of Cl and Cd are main purpose of this simulation so only Cl
(coefficient of lift) and Cd(coefficient of drag) data were collected and compress in
Microsoft Excel for further optimisation. In Microsoft excel Cl/Cd calculated and
graph drawn which shown below.

CL/CD vs AOA
25

20

15
CL / CD

10

0
0° 4° 8° 10° 14° 18° 20°
-5
AOA
NACA2411 NACA0010 NACA0012

Figure 22 Aerofoil Selection by Cl/Cd

The results conducted here to find out the aerofoil with higher aerodynamic efficiency
which means higher value of Cl/Cd. After all these results conducted, A final
comparison of Cl/Cd values of all aerofoils to show which aerofoil have better value
will be selected for further wing design. The column chart above clearly shows that
NACA2411 have better value of Cl/Cd then others, so according this CFD results
NACA 2411 is the best profile for wing design and it is selected for further designing
process.

The Lift force vs AOA shown Below (Figure 23 Lift vs AOA of 3 aerofoils), this chart
clearly shows that NACA2411 have maximum value of Lift Force compare to other

33
aerofoils. As NACA2411 producing maximum lift also support the selection of
NACA2411 for 3D wing design. This chart also shows that after 14° angle of attack
the values of Lift is reducing that means the stall angle is 14°. So in further analysis
will carried out on 14° angle of attack.

Lift vs AOA
25

20
LIFT Force (N)

15

10

0
0° 4° 8° 10° 14° 18° 20°
-5
AOA
NACA2411 NACA0010 NACA0012

Figure 23 Lift vs AOA of 3 aerofoils

6.4 3D Wing design

A320 wing design has selected for analysis. The dimension are taken from A320
manual [33]. As this project is based on lift and drag analysis so do not need to
design internal parts of wing. The drawings of A320 wing dimensions used for wind
design in this project shown below in figure 24 and 25.

34
Figure 24 A320 MANUAL [33]

35
Figure 25 A320 MANUAL [33]

36
The following dimensions of A320 wing found with help of A320 manual shown
below in Figure 26 and Figure 27.

Figure 26 A320 wing with Dimensions

6.4.1 Wing design in solid works

The real A320 wing is 16.95m long. The study with real dimension takes lots more
time, so dimensions has scaled down by

Valuing the dimension as 1 meter = 14mm.

37
The wing design have the new dimensions after scale down can be seen in image
below.

Figure 27 Image shows the wing design with its dimensions.

1) Designing a wing shown in figure above need 3 Plane to design 1st in reference
of Front plane. These planes have given distance.
Planes Distance (mm)
Front plane – Plane 1 45.822
Plane 1 – Plane 2 191.296

38
 Figure 28 Three Planes in Solid works

2) Now on these 3 Planes, we have to put 3 aerofoil with different cord length. The
aerofoil located on these Planes have different cord length. Location (on plane) of
aerofoils according their cord length is shown below in Table.

Aerofoil location(on Planes) Aerofoil cord length(mm)

Front plane 89.6
Plane 1 72.8
Plane 2 20.86

When an aerofoil imported in solid works it come up 1 mm (or any unit selected). So
the coordinates of aerofoil has to multiply by needed cord line length before import in
solid works. Ex- need an Aerofoil of 89.6 mm so multiply the coordinates with 89.6
and put new coordinated in solid works which gives me an aerofoil with 89.6mm cord
length. 3 aerofoil placed on Planes shows in figure 32 below.

39
 Figure 29 aerofoil input on Planes

3) Now the Aerofoils need to place on their designated place. 1st two aerofoils end
should at same location from front view and last aerofoil start point at others end
point.

Figure 30 placing the aerofoil at right location

40
4) After placing the aerofoils at their locations, loft all these aerofoils and the wing is
ready.

Figure 31 Image shows the final design of wing created in solid works

6.5 Winglet design

NACA2411 used in this project for modelling of the winglets.

6.5.1 Blended winglet:

Aircraft Manufacture Companies does not share actual dimensions of their aircrafts
but still they share few dimensions. Airbus A320 winglet height is 2.4m (for my
project it is 2.4*14= 33.6mm) [34].The aerofoil model with wing shown below in
figure.

41
 Figure 32 Image shows the wing with blended winglet

6.5.2 Ranked winglets

The Naca2411 used in the designing of the ranked winglet. This winglet is 21mm
long.

Figure 33 Image shows the Ranked winglet attached on wing

42
6.5.3 Wingtip Fence
This winglet total height is 41.63mm.
Upper part = 21.63mm Lower part = 20.63mm

Figure 34 Image shows the wing with wingtip fence

43
6.6 3D simulations setup
In order to do CFD analysis of wing without winglet and wing with winglets a flow
simulation has setup on following boundary condition.

Flow liquid = air

Pressure = 101325Pa
Density p = 1.2256kg/m3
Velocity = 60m/s
Turbulence intensity = 0.2 %

Size of Domain for flow simulation

X=500mm -x= -500mm
Y = 150mm -y = -150mm
Z = 300mm -z = 00mm

Wall parameter = 279.4 micrometre

Goals (Reports):

1: Global Goals = 2 global goals selected to get Drag and Lift values

Force X (Drag force)

Force Y (Lift force)

2: Equation goals =

The formula to find coefficient of Lift is:

𝟐 ∗ 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐭
𝐂𝐥 = Equation (4)
(𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 ∗ 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝟐 ) ∗ 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠

The formula to find coefficient of Drag is:

𝟐 ∗ 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠
𝐂𝐝 = Equation (5)
(𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 ∗ 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝟐 ) ∗ 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠

Where:
Lift = value of Lift force Y {It will be calculated by simulation itself and it will put into
equation goals}.
Drag = value of Drag force X {It will be calculated by simulation itself and it will put
into equation goals}.

44
 Density p = 1.2256kg/m3
Velocity = 60m/s
Area of wing (wing without winglet) = 0.02542642 m^2 (wing area is different for
other wings because of different winglets)

The values above imported in Equation (4) and Equation (5)

2 ∗ Lift
𝐂𝐥 =
(1.2256 ∗ 60^2) ∗ 0.02542642

2 ∗ Drag
𝐂𝐝 =
(1.2256 ∗ 60^2) ∗ 0.02542642

The Cl and Cd above put into the Equation goals, which will allow flow simulation to
calculate the values of Cl and Cd.

6.7 Results and Discussion

The results of simulations for different wings are presented below:

Wings Lift (N) Drag(N) Cl Cd Cl/Cd Vorticity

Wing without 16.89382 3.78140 0.301168 0.067413 4.467486 30512.94
winglet
Wing with Blended 16.97162 3.81805 0.302564 0.068067 4.445099 30238.16
Winglet
Wing with Ranked 18.79781 4.29363 0.326526 0.074582 4.378061 19910.12
Winglet
Wing with Wingtip 19.62515 4.19479 0.327422 0.069985 4.678455 34524.41
Fence
Table 2 Table Shows the simulation results of different wings

Above tables shows the simulation results of Drag Force, Lift Force, Coefficient of
Lift, Coefficient of Drag and vorticity of different wings. In table above we can see
that wing without winglet have less value of lift force compare to the other wings with
winglets. According to results winglets increasing the lift force but on other hand it
also increasing the drag force. To find out the aerodynamic efficiency Cl/Cd has
calculated, can see in table above. Higher Cl/Cd means more efficiency. A chart has
created to compare the Cl/Cd values for all wing design shown below.

45
 Cl/Cd vs diffrent wing models

4.7
4.65
4.6
Cl /Cd

4.55
4.5
4.45
4.4
4.35
4.3
4.25
4.2
Wing without Wing with Blended Wing with Ranked Wing with Wing tip
winglet winglet Winglet Fence

Figure 35 Chart shows comparison of different wings with Cl/Cd values

The results of Cl/Cd of all wings concluded in Figure above. In Figure The column in
different colours represent the different wing shapes which have different winglet
types and one wing without winglet. It clearly shows that the wing with wingtip fence
have maximum value of Lift force which is 4.67 and wing with Ranked winglet have
minimum Cl/Cd value 4.37.

This Results proves that winglets helps to improve the Lift force (see Table2) and
also one design has successfully improves aerodynamic efficiency. According the
Cl/Cd values wing with wingtip Fence is most efficient design.

46
 Vorticity vs diffrent Wing design

35000

30000
Vorticity Megnitude

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
Wing without Wing with Wingtip Wing with Blended Wing with Ranked
winglet Fence winglet Winglet

Figure 36 chart shows vorticity values of different wing designs

The results of air vorticity of all wings concluded in Figure above from Table- 2. The
Figure above shows the results of all the wings vorticity in different columns. This
shows that wing with wingtip fence have highest vorticity and wing without winglet
also have high vortex compare to two other wing designs. The Ranked winglet have
less vorticity compare to other wing designs.

This analysis shows that wingtip helps to reduce the wing tip vorticity. However the
wing with wingtip fence have more vorticity then wing without winglet but this design
have highest value of Cl/Cd force in among these wing designs. The other Two
designs of wings proves that adding the winglet to wings reduce the vorticity.
According to the results of vorticity of wings the wing with ranked winglet is selected
for further analysis.

From above analysis the wing with wingtip fence (according Cl/Cd) and wing with
ranked winglet (according vorticity) selected. A comparison between these two wing
designs carried below in to find better wing design in both.

47
 Wing with Wingtip Fence Wing with ranked winglet

Vorticity 34524.41 19910.12

Cl 0.327422 0.326526

Cd 0.069985 0.074582

Drag force(N) 4.194794 4.293639

Lift force(N) 19.62515 18.79781

Table 3 the comparison of 2 wing design for final wing design

The Table above shows the comparison of two wing designs in respect to Vorticity,
Cl, Cd, Drag force and Lift force. The comparison shows that values of Cl, Cd and
Drag force for both design are nearly same. The Lift force of wing with wingtip fence
a unit higher then wing with ranked winglets. The vorticity is only one thing in these
two wing designs results that a huge difference. The vorticity of wing with wingtip
fence is 1.7 times greater than wing with ranked winglet.

From the all above results and comparisons, I have concluded that the values of Cl,
Cd, Lift Force and Drag Force are similar for both wing designs, but the wing with
ranked winglet have considerable low vorticity then wing with wingtip fence. As wing
tip Fence have 2 winglet extension upward and downward the wing, this increase the
weight of winglets at tip. Increase in Weight also a factor which effect efficiency.

So the ability of low vorticity development, similarity in other values and less weight
(compare to wingtip Fence) makes wing with Ranked winglet as the most efficient
wing design in among these wings in this study.

48
 Figure 37 Vorticity results of wing without winglets

In the Images above blue bands represent airflow. Air flow comes straight to the
wing and behind the wing air flow direction slightly changed mostly at wing tips. The
airflow behind the wing make circular shape (motion) and lost its straight path can be
seen clearly at wingtips in figure above. This circular motion at behind the wing is air
vortex. The Figure above shows the wing without winglet which have vorticity
30512.94 and high vortex behind wing tips.

Figure 38 Image show the air vortex reduction at wingtip by using winglet

49
Figure 38 clearly shows that adding the winglet to wing reduces the developing
vortex behind the wing. Also the figure 38 shows that how adding the winglet at
wingtip effect on air vortex. At the left hand side we can see that high air vortex and
on other hand the air vortex is reduced. During the flight high pressure air flow
beneath the wing and when it goes to low pressure air which coming from over the
wing it makes vortex, winglets create a barrier that break the vortex.

7 Designing more efficient Winglets

From above study it has concluded that Ranked winglets are more efficient then
Blended winglet and wingtip fence winglets. In order to get better performance for
wing, further work done on blended winglets and Ranked winglets. Wingtip Fence
increasing weight which effect lots other factors so it has unselected for further work.
5 new designs of Blended and 5 new designs of Ranked winglets with wing designed
in solid works.

50
7.1 Blended winglets

Figure 39 Wing with 5 different types of winglets

51
7.2 Ranked Winglets

Figure 40 Image show wing with 5 different types of Ranked winglets

52
8 Simulation in STAR CCM+
Why using STAR CCM+

The 1st three designs of wings simulated in SOLID WORKS Flow simulation, after
observing the results Blended winglets and Ranked winglets are modified in order to
get more efficient winglets. The new designs of winglets have slight difference in
their dimension and angles. The solid works have limited mesh settings, it selects
the mesh itself and does not allow user to create an enough efficient mesh especially
when it’s aerodynamic objects such as wing. As these wing designs have slightly
different from each other, designs need a very fine mesh which can give me better
results so further CFD analysis will be carried in STAR-CCM+ . STAR CCM+ allow
user to select various mesh models which help user to obtain correct results. It give
an option to create additional mesh on a particular section if needed. In order to
study wing designs users are interested to create special mesh around wing and
behind the wing (as shown in figure below).

Figure 41 Image shows the Block and Cylinder parts which allows to create mesh
around these parts

As my models have slight difference in their geometries. I need very fine mesh and
special mesh on edges of wings in order to obtain accurate results. STAR-CCM+
allow me to select mesh type needed bur Solid works don’t have this type of options
so for my further study I will use STAR-CCM+.

53
8.1 Simulation setup

8.1.1 Domain setup

For all the wing designs the domains created in solid works as shown (Figure 42
Image shows the domain parameters of wing.) and saved as parasolid.x_t files so it
can imported in STAR CCM+.

Figure 42 Image shows the domain parameters of wing.

8.1.2 Mesh Setup

Automated mesh selected with following Mesher
 Surface Remesher
 Automatic Surface Repair
 Polyhedral Mesher
 Prism Layer Mesher

Mesh Controls Properties:

The properties of mesh controls shown in table below
Mesh Reference values Values
Base size 0.006 m
Number of Prism Layers 2
Prism Layer Stretching 1.5
Prism layer thickness 0.005 m
Surface growth Rate 1.3
Figure 43 Table shows Values of Mesh controls properties
Note: Special curve control also selected.

54
8.1.3 Mesh Results
The mesh generated after giving all necessary parameters and as an output results
are below (wing without winglet).
1196851 cells, 8370820 faces, 7198239 verts

The image below shows fine mesh on wing domain and on wing itself. It can be seen
that all the edges and surface of wing come up with smooth mesh. This mesh is
acceptable for study.

Figure 44 Image shows the meshed Wing and Wing Domain

8.1.4 Boundary conditions

STAR CCM+ allows user to select various boundary conditions in Physics Continua.

Physics Continua
A physics continuum contains a selection of physics models, such as types of flow
solver, types of materials, time models (steady, unsteady), types of turbulence, etc.
wing designs has studied in following boundary conditions:

55
 Physic Models category Selected Models
Time Steady
Material Gas
Flow Segregated flow
Equation of state Constant Density
Viscous Regime Turbulent
Reynold-Averaged Turbulence Spalart-Allmaras Turbulence
Y+ wall treatment All Y+ wall treatment

After selecting all these models above they will be available at Continua > Physics
> Models as shown in Image below.

Figure 45 Image shows the selected models under Physics for this study

56
The following conditions and properties given to fluid:

 Density= 1.2256 kg/m2

 Velocity = 200 m/s

 Direction of velocity = x

 Angle of attack = 14°

While designing domain in solid works the wing placed at 14°, the reason of choosing
14° is that after 14° AOA the values of lift reduces which means14° is stall angle. The
maximum lift produced at 14°, according to my results above (Simulation results of
Aerofoils).

8.1.5 Reports

Report function allow user to select the require results by creating reports. For my
study I have selected following Report:
1. Lift
2. Drag
3. Coefficient of Drag
4. Coefficient of Lift

After creating these Reports the simulation is ready to run.

57
9 Results and Discussion

9.1 Lift, drag and CL/CD results

9.1.1 Wing without Winglets

Lift 265.0563
Drag 46.598
Cl 3.062
Cd 0.568
Cl/Cd 5.38
Table 4 Table shows the Results of Wing without winglet

9.1.2 Wing with Ranked winglets:

Lift Drag Cl Cd Cl/Cd

Ranked winglet 1 251.5373 44.92512 3.017892 0.539002 5.599033

Ranked winglet 2 257.2036 47.9932 3.040234 0.567296 5.359166

Ranked winglet 3 258.5633 48.0262 3.10809 0.577304 5.383797

Ranked winglet 4 245.9848 45.98379 2.962455 0.553794 5.349381

Ranked winglet 5 257.562 54.11678 2.945211 0.618823 4.759373

Table 5 Table shows the Results of wings with all 5 different Ranked winglets

9.1.3 Wings with Blended winglets Results:

Lift Drag Cl Cd Cl/Cd

Blended winglet 1 267.0025 47.91639 3.169775 0.568849 5.572259

Blended winglet 2 265.0563 46.59894 3.190404 0.560898 5.688033

Blended winglet 3 264.965 48.24429 3.142558 0.572191 5.492152

Blended winglet 4 269.4147 47.45619 3.190103 0.561922 5.677125

Blended winglet 5 245.1779 45.53958 2.937948 0.545697 5.383842

Table 6 Table shows the Results of all wings with all 5 different Blended winglets

58
The results of Lift, Drag, Cl and Cd for wing without winglet and all 10 wing models
with winglets are shown in Table4, 5, 6. The results of wing without winglet in Table
1 shows that wing have lift higher then Drag and Cl/Cd ratio 5.38. As the ratio Cl/Cd
is more than 1 which means wing is producing a positive lift. Comparing the values
of Cl/Cd will lead to the efficient wing design.

9.2 Wing model selection by Cl/Cd values

9.2.1 Wing with Blended winglet results in term of Cl/Cd
Wing with Blended winglet vs Cl/Cd

5.7
5.65
5.6
5.55
5.5
Cl/Cd

5.45
5.4
5.35
5.3
5.25
5.2
Wing Without Wing with Wing with Wing with Wing with Wing with
winglet Blended Blended Blended Blended Blended
Winglet 1 Winglet 2 Winglet 3 Winglet 4 Winglet 5

Figure 46 Column Chart Shows CL/ CD values compression between wing without
winglet and wing with 5 different Blended winglets.

In Figure above has compared the Cl/Cd values of 5 wing model with winglet and
wing without winglet. Figure shows that all 4 wing model with blended winglet has
higher Cl/Cd value then wing without winglet. The wing model with blended winglet 5
has similar value to wing without winglet. The wing with blended winglet 2 shows the
highest improvement in Cl/Cd which 5.57% compare to the wing without winglet.
Table below shows the improvement in Cl/Cd values of wing model with blended
winglets compare to wing without winglet. Wing without winglet Cl/Cd = 5.38

Wing model Cl/Cd Improvement

Wing with Blended winglet 1 5.572259 3.53%
Wing with Blended winglet 2 5.688033 5.57%
Wing with Blended winglet 3 5.492152 2.04%
Wing with Blended winglet 4 5.677125 5.39%
Table 7 Shows Cl/Cd value improvement by using winglets.

59
9.2.2 Wing with Ranked winglet Results in terms of Cl/Cd

Cl/Cd vs wings with Ranked winglet

5.7

5.5

5.3
CL / CD

5.1

4.9

4.7

4.5
Wing without Wing with Wing with Wing with Wing with Wing with
winglet Ranked Ranked Ranked Ranked Ranked
winglet 1 winglet 2 winglet 3 winglet 4 winglet 5

Figure 47 Column Chart Shows Cl/Cd values compression between wing without
winglet and wing with 5 different Ranked winglets

Figure above shows the Cl/Cd values of 5 wing models with ranked winglets
comparing with wing without winglet. It is clear to see that wing model with Ranked
winglet 1 has higher value of Cl/Cd, Wing with Ranked winglet 3 has almost similar
values to wing without winglet and rest of wing models have lower values of Cl/Cd.
The wing model with Ranked winglet 1 has improved the aerodynamic efficiency in
terms of Cl/Cd by 3.9% and wing with Ranked winglet 3 by 0.068%. Rest wing
models with winglets not able to improve the aerodynamic efficiency in terms of
Cl/Cd .Table below shows the improvement in Cl/Cd values of wing model with
Ranked winglets compare to wing without winglet.

Wing without winglet Cl/Cd = 5.38.

Wing models Cl/Cd Improvement

Wing with Ranked Winglet 1 5.599033 3.9%
Wing with Ranked winglet 3 5.383797 0.068%
Table 8 Shows Cl/Cd value improvement by using winglets.

60
In Figure 46 and Figure 47 above shown the comparison of all the wing designs with
their Cl/Cd values in order to find the efficient wing with winglet design. After
observing above figures (46, 47) and improvement tables (7, 8) it has found the 6 out
of the 10 wing with winglet designs do increase the aerodynamic efficiency and one
wing model have same values compare to wing without winglet in terms of Cl/Cd. In
5 designs of wing with blended winglet The Wing with Blended winglet 2 is most
efficient as it has higher Cl/Cd compare to other designs. Wing with Ranked winglet
1 has higher aerodynamic efficiency in terms of Cl/Cd compare to other wing design
with ranked winglet.

9.2.3 Final Selection of most efficient winglet with wing

Wing with Blended winglet 2 and Wing with Ranked winglet 1 are selected for
comparison with Wing without winglet to find out the most aerodynamic efficient wing
design terms of Cl/Cd for this Project. Figure below shows the column chart created
for comparison between 2 selected wing designs and wing without winglet. Wing
designs with winglets have higher value of Cl/Cd compare to the wing without
winglet. Chart also shows that Wing with Blended winglet 2 design has highest value
of Cl/Cd which means this design is most aerodynamically efficient design according
this project which increase the efficiency by 5.57%.

Final Selection of efficient wing design

5.7
5.65
5.6
5.55
5.5
CL / CD

5.45
5.4
5.35
5.3
5.25
5.2
Wing without winglet Wing with Ranked Wing with Blended
winglet 1 winglet 2

Figure 48 Chart shows Cl/Cd values of wing without winglet, wing with Blended
winglet 2 and wing with Ranked winglet 1.

61
9.3 Velocity Results

To obtain the velocity results a plane has created behind all the wings (shown below
in figure 49, 50) on a same location so results can be compared. Results for all the
wing designs are listed below in Tables 9, 10 and 11.

Figure 49 shows Velocity magnitude on plane behind wing without winglet.

Figure 50 Shows Velocity magnitude on plane behind wing with Blended winglet2.

62
9.3.1 Wing without winglet velocity distribution
Wing without winglet velocity Magnitude 205.61 m/s
Table 9 show velocity magnitude of wing without winglet

9.3.2 Wings with Blended winglets velocity Distribution

Wings with Blended winglet Velocity Magnitude (m/s)
Wing with Blended Winglet 1 205.71
Wing with Blended Winglet 2 211.04
Wing with Blended Winglet 3 205.73
Wing with Blended Winglet 4 208.68
Wing with Blended Winglet 5 205.33
Table 10 shows velocity magnitude results for all 5 wings with Blended winglets.

9.3.3 Wings with Ranked winglet velocity Distribution

Wings with Ranked Winglet Velocity Magnitude (m/s)
Wing with Ranked winglet 1 203.41
Wing with Ranked winglet 2 203.93
Wing with Ranked winglet 3 204.13
Wing with Ranked winglet 4 203.42
Wing with Ranked winglet 5 204.02
Table 11 shows velocity magnitude results for all 5 wings with Ranked winglets.

Data in table 9, 10 and 11 shows wing design with blended winglets able to increase
velocity comparing to wing without winglets. Figure 49 and 50 shows that higher
velocity magnitude region developed on upper surface and lower surface of plane as
shown in red colour region, this is because of the addition of the deflected fluid
particles from wing surface pushing and adding more energy into the fluid particles.
Wing surface (aerofoil) allows air to move faster over upper surface compare to
lower surface results high velocity magnitude region developed at upper side of wing
can be seen on plane behind the wings.

Velocity behind the wing shown in yellow and green area is very low because wing
separates the air flow by upper surface with low pressure and lower surface with
high pressure so according to the principle of Bernoulli force the velocity is high
(represented dark red region) in the low pressure area, and vice versa. Pressure
difference area developed behind the wing, the velocities with pressure different
interface behind wing and results development of vortex which creates pressure
drag. Reducing the pressure drag leads to high velocity and better performance. The
use of winglets reduces the pressure drag and increases the velocity, the wing

63
design with Blended winglet 2 has increased the velocity magnitude by 2.64%
compare to wing without winglet by reducing pressure drag.

10 Conclusion

The aim of this project was to CFD analyse the wing without winglet and the increase
aerodynamic efficiency after attaching the winglet at wingtip, also to find the wing
design with winglet with better efficiency. The rising cost of fuel, operating cost and
increasing CO2 in atmosphere is the reason aircraft industry started researching to
get efficient aircraft designs. The aircraft industries found some design modification
in wing design by adding winglets to reduce the drag and air vortex but researcher
will always continue to find better outcomes. In this research it was ascertained that
adding the winglets to the wingtip increase the aerodynamic efficiency in terms of
Cl/Cd. Furthermore, the reduction in air vortex behind the wing, was proven in this
study by the adding a winglet to the wingtip.

The research on aerodynamics, aerofoil geometry, the wing design, wingtip vortex,
winglets designs and the construction of wing with winglet conducted to meet the
project aims. The designing process begins with the 2D simulation of different
aerofoils (Naca0010, Naca0012 and Naca2411) on different AOA. The simulation
results shows that Naca2411 has the high value of Cl/Cd then others so NACA 2411
used for construction of wings. The wing without winglet and 3 wings with different
winglets were also designed in solid works.

The CFD simulation carried out for wing without winglet and 3 wing designs with
different winglets. The 3 designs are WING WITH BLENDED WINGLET, WING
WITH WING TIP FENCE, and WING WITH RANKED WONGLET. The simulation
results of all 3 different wing designs with winglets were conducted and compared to
find the best performed winglet design.

According to results the wing with Ranked winglet was found with higher efficiency
than others wing with winglets designs but still leaves a room for further
improvements in this design. In order to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of wing
Ranked winglet and Blended winglet has modified, 10 wing designs with winglets
created for further study.

64
5 models of wing with Blended winglet and 5 models of Ranked winglet designed in
solid works and CFD analysis carried out in STAR-CCM+. In the results of CFD
analysis of wing designs it was learned that wing with Blended winglet 2 has the
maximum aerodynamic efficiency in terms of Cl/Cd in this study. By using this
winglet the efficiency of wing has increase by 5.57%. According to this study it was
also found that adding the winglet to the wing improves aircraft performance which
will not only make it sustainable in terms of carbon reductions but also fuel efficient.

11 Recommendation
Winglets could be made by different aerofoil then the wing, could improve results of
Cl/Cd. Also can reduce drag.
The Ranked winglet can be redesign and it can improve efficiency.
Changing the AOA could give interesting results.
Analysis on landing and take-off at different velocity could found interesting results
for efficiency.

12 Future work
The following activities I intend doing after completion of this project dissertation:
 Creating new winglet designs by improving the geometry of winglets.
 Design winglets with different aerofoil and do CFD analysis.
 Analysis of wing with wingtip devices such as wing grid, serrated wingtips etc.
 Investigation of models with much more accurate operating parameters such
as temperature, velocity, pressure.
 Investigate the overall efficiency of aircraft before and after using the new
winglet designs.

65
66
13 References

[1]M, D., & Premkumar , P. (2011). Performance Analysis of Winglets Using CFD
Simulation. Altair Technology conference. Coimbatore

[2] CFD Analysis of Winglets at Low Subsonic Flow. (2015). Proceedings of the
World Congress on Engineering 2011, Vol I(WCE 2011), pp.1-5.

[3] Houghton, E. and Carpenter, P. (2003). Aerodynamics for engineering students.

Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

[4] Esru.strath.ac.uk, (2015). Flexible Moorings For Marine Turbines. [online]

Available at: http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/11-
12/MORE/hydrofoil/introduction.html [Accessed 20 Sep. 2015].

[5] Airframe and powerplant mechanics. (2015). Washington DC: U.S. Department of
Transportation Federal Aviation Administration, pp.30-31

[6] Slideshare.net, (2015). EASA PART-66 MODULE 8.2 : AERODYNAMICS.

[online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/soulstalker/easa-part66-module-82-
aerodynamics [Accessed 21 Sep. 2015].

[7] Adg.stanford.edu, (2015). Wing Design Parameters. [online] Available at:

http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/wingdesign/wingparams.html [Accessed 21 Sep.
2015].
[8] Adg.stanford.edu, (2015). Wing Design Parameters. [online] Available at:
http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/wingdesign/wingparams.html [Accessed 21 Sep.
2015].

[9] Airframe and powerplant mechanics. (2015). Washington DC: U.S. Department of
Transportation Federal Aviation Administration, pp.32-34.

[10] Carpenter. P. (2015). Learn How Airplanes Fly. [online] Rc-airplane-world.com.

Available at: http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/how-airplanes-fly.html [Accessed 15
Sep. 2015].

[11] Airplanes-aircraft.knoji.com, (2015). Winglets: A Novel Design with a Purpose.

[online] Available at: https://airplanes-aircraft.knoji.com/winglets-a-novel-design-with-
a-purpose/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2015].

[12] Wonderwhizkids.com, (2015). wonderwhizkids.com - Flight of migratory birds.

[online] Available at: http://www.wonderwhizkids.com/index.php/flight-of-migratory-
birds [Accessed 18 Sep. 2015].

67
[13] Dryden Flight Research Center,Wake Vortex Research. (2015, 09 11). Retrieved
fromNASA.gov:http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/about/Organizations/Tech
nology/Facts/TF-2004-14-DFRC.html

[14] University Herald, (2015). Migrating Birds Flying in V-Formation Rotate Leaders
to Conserve Collective Energy. [online] Available at:
http://www.universityherald.com/articles/15493/20150203/migrating-birds-flying-in-v-
formation-rotate-leaders-to-conserve-collective-energy.htm [Accessed 15 Sep.
2015].

[15] Wildfuture.co.uk, (2015). Isle of Mull, Wildlife & Wild Places. [online] Available at:
http://www.wildfuture.co.uk/index.php/isle-of-mull-wildlife-a-wild-places [Accessed 15
Sep. 2015].

[16] Aerospace.co.uk, (2013). NWAA News: Live webcast - A350 First Flight. [online]
Available at: http://www.aerospace.co.uk/news/130613-a350-1st-flight [Accessed 15
Sep. 2015].

[17] Aviation Pioneer Richard T. Whitcomb. (2015, 09 12). Retrieved from

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/richard_whitcomb.html#.VfSJERFViko

[18] Dryden Flight Research Center,Wake Vortex Research. (2015, 09 11). Retrieved
from NASA.gov:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/about/Organizations/Technology/Facts/T
F-2004-14-DFRC.html

[19] Weierman, J. (2015). Winglet Design and optimization for UAVS. OK, USA:
Oklaboma State University, pp.6-13.
[20] Brussels, D. (2015). Air War: 'Winglet' Versus 'Sharklet'. [online] WSJ. Available
at:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204778604577239583270202816
[Accessed 15 Sep. 2015].

68
[21] Aviationpartnersboeing.com, (2015). [online] Available at:
http://www.aviationpartnersboeing.com/pdf/news/af42_apb.pdf [Accessed 11 Dec.
2015].

[22] Brady, C. (2015). Boeing 737 Winglets. [online] The Boeing 737 Technical Site.
Available at: http://www.b737.org.uk/winglets.htm [Accessed 11 Dec. 2015].

[23] Harris, D. (2013). Winglets approved for Boeing 767-300BCF conversions | Cargo
Facts. [online] Cargofacts.com. Available at: http://cargofacts.com/winglets-approved-
for-boeing-767-300bcf-conversions/ [Accessed 16 Sep. 2015].

[24] The Flying Engineer,. 'Winglets And Sharklets'. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

[25] Flickr - Photo Sharing!, (2015). Flickr - Photo Sharing!. [online] Available at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28042007@N07/3418234715/in/photostream/
[Accessed 25 Nov. 2015].

[26] The Flying Engineer,. 'Winglets And Sharklets'. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

[27] Airline world, (2008). Aircraft Winglets. [online] Available at:

https://airlineworld.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/aircraft-winglets/ [Accessed 8 Dec.
2015].

[28] Salahuddin, M., Obaid-ur-Rahman, M. and Jaleel, S. (2015). A REPORT ON

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF WINGS: WITH AND WITHOUT WINGLET.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN AERONAUTICAL AND
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, Vol.1(Issue.1, 2013), pp.7-25.

[29] http://www.cd-adapco.com/, (2015). Validation of STAR-CCM+ for External

Aerodynamics in the Aerospace Industry. [online] Available at: http://www.cd-
adapco.com/sites/default/files/Presentation/CD-adapco_AeroValidation_v7.pdf
[Accessed 25 Nov. 2015].

[30] CD-adapco, (2015). AEROSPACE SPECIAL REPORT. Numerical Simulation of

High Lift Trapezoidal Wing with Transition Modeling in STAR -CCM+. STAR-CCM+:
cd-adapco.com, pp.16-20.

[31] Smith, M., Komerath, N., Ames, R. and Wong, O. (2001). PERFORMANCE
ANALYSIS OF A WING WITH MULTIPLE WINGLETS. AIAA-2001-2407,
2001(2407), pp.1-10.

[32] Guerrero, J., Maestro, D. and Bottaro, A. (2012). Biomimetic spiroid winglets for
lift and drag control. Comptes Rendus Mécanique, 340(1-2), pp.67-80.

[33] A320 MANUAL, 1996. A320 MAINTENANCE FACILITY PLANING AIRBUS. 6.p.
3.
69
 [34] airbus, (2015). Technology | Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer. [online]
Available at:
http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies/passengeraircraft/a320family/technology-and-
innovation/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2015].

70

View publication stats