Major Project Presentation on

DIFFERENT TYPES OF WINGLETS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING VORTICES

Submitted by
Name: Anshuman Mehta; (Reg. No. : 20120397)
In partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of degree in
Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering
(2016)
Under the Guidance of

External Guide: Internal Guide:

Shamkumar J Mahurkar Dheeraj Kumar
Design Engineer (CAD/CFD) Assistant Professor
TTRC, AAPL Department of ME, SMIT
Khairatabad, Hyderabad Majhitar, East Sikkim
 ABSTRACT
• A preliminary CFD study was conducted
to compare the wingtip vortices and
induced drag generated by ten wing-
configurations at cruise conditions.
• The geometry for a wing without
winglet, wings with simple rounded, aft
swept, down-swept, upswept, blended,
drooped, fenced, circular and raked
winglets were modelled in CATIA and
numerically analysed using FLUENT CFD
software.
• The results produced detailed contour
and vector plots of the wingtip vortices
magnitudes created by each wingtip
configuration.
 CONTENTS
1.ABSTRACT 9.RESULTS
2.PROBLEM STATEMENTS 10.CONCLUSIONS
3.INTRODUCTION
1.WINGTIP VORTICES FORMATION
2.WINGLETS
4.PROCEDURE
5.AIRCRAFT CONSIDERED
6.DESIGN
7.MESH
8.BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND MODEL
 Problem Statements
• There is presence of induced drag due to
wingtip vortices which leads to more fuel
consumption.
• The encounter of an aircraft during take-
off or landing with the wake generated
by the preceding aircraft can pose a
serious hazard which is particularly
dangerous because it occurs near the
ground.
• To avoid wake encounters, regulations
require aircraft to maintain set distances
behind each other and set time intervals
between landing and take-off. As a result
of this, the operating costs to airlines and
passengers are also severely impacted.
• There are also presence of noise effects
due to vortex effects
WINGTIP VORTICES FORMATION
• Vortices form because of the difference in
pressure between the upper and lower surfaces of
a wing that is operating at a positive lift. Since
pressure is a continuous function, the pressures
must become equal at the wing tips. The
tendency is for particles of air to move from the
lower wing surface around the wing tip to the
upper surface (from the region of high pressure
to the region of low pressure) so that the pressure
becomes equal above and below the wing.
• The air experiences a circular movement along
with simultaneous free stream movement
resulting in the formation of a helical path.

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WINGLETS
A winglet is a (near) vertical extension of the wing tips. Designed as small airfoils, winglets reduced the
aerodynamic drag associated with vortices that develop at the wingtips as the airplane moves through
the air. By reducing wingtip drag, fuel consumption goes down and range is extended. Aircraft of all
types and sizes are flying with winglets.

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 PROCEDURE
Wing Parameters (Wing reference area, number of wings, vertical and horizontal
Pre- positions relative to the fuselage, cross section of airfoils, aspect ratio, taper ratio, tip
Requirements chord, root chord, mean aerodynamic chord (MAC), span, twist angle, sweep angle,
dihedral angle, incidence angle and other wing accessories)
Winglets Designed: - Wing without winglet and with winglets (Aft swept, Blended,
Design Circular, Upswept, down swept, Drooped, Fenced, Simple Rounded, Raked)
Phase STEP 1: Initial Meshing
STEP 2: Inflation (First Boundary Layer to be provided by calculating by y plus wall
Meshing distance estimation)
Phase STEP 2: Sphere of influence (Body Sizing)
STEP 3: Modifications to the meshing such that skewness is less than 0.97 with least
Boundary number of nodes and elements
Conditions Density based solver, steady state, Energy ON, Model- Spalart Allmaras method, Mach
and Model no. 0.8, Boundary far field method (Calculations of Static Pressure and Temperature),
Static Pressure = 66471.39048 Pa, Static Temperature = 275.7092199 K
In form of contours, vector plots etc.
Results
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 AIRCRAFT CONSIDERED
Aircraft Boeing 777 300 ER
Considered
Model C Market version of 300
Wingspan 64.86 m
Wing Sweepback 37.68 degrees
Angle
Fuselage Width 6.20 m
Typical Cruise Mach 0.84
speed
Maximum Speed Mach 0.89
Engine (×2) GE90-115B1 Turbofan,
which is the world’s most
powerful jet engine in
service, with a maximum
thrust of 513 kN
Root Chord 12.00912 m
Tip Chord 1.759 m 8
 DESIGN
AIRFOIL DETERMINATION
Section Air foils used
b737d-il (wrinkle formation)
Outboard
GIII-BL86
Plank form b737b-il
b737a-il (wrinkle formation)
Root joukowsky0015-jf (closed profile)
oaf-139-il (unnecessary vortex formation )
joukowsky001-jf
All Dimensions are in mm
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 Design of Reference Wing

The wing geometry used in this study

also consisted of multiple aerofoil section, to
add to the realism of the model. To preserve
accuracy of the computational results, the
aerofoils used in the criterion of the
geometry of the wing were based on the
aerofoil sections used by conventional
commercial airliners. However engine is not
attached to the wing to keep the area of
consideration at the tips only.
Design of Wingtip Devices
Fenced Winglet
Simple Rounded Wingtip Upswept Wingtip

Blended Winglet Circular Winglet

Aftswept Wingtip

Downswept Wingtip
Drooped Winglet Raked Winglet

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Domain and Named Selection pressure_far_field

Domain
Hemisphere
domain_wall
Diameter =
10 × Chord
Length

domain_symmetry
Wing

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 MESH
Maximum Skewness < 0.97
Maximum Aspect Ratio < 700

Overall Mesh

Inflation Layers

Sphere of Influence
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 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND MODEL
Double Precision OFF
Type Density Based
Velocity Formulation Absolute
Time Unsteady
Gravity OFF
Energy ON
Viscous Model Spalart Allmaras (1 Eq.) Default Configuration
Fluid Air
Density Ideal Gas
Viscosity Sutherland (3 Coefficient)
Operating Pressure 0 Pascal
Boundary Condition Pressure Far Field
Static Pressure = 66471.39048 Pascal
Static Temperature = 275.709219 Kelvin
Mach Number = 0.8
Turbulent Intensity = 4.16 %
Turbulent Length Scale = 12.00912 m 14
 RESULTS
WING WITHOUT WINGLET

The wing without winglets configuration displayed a high vorticity concentration

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throughout the wake region.
 Aftswept Wingtip

However, the vortex wake for the wing with

winglets configuration had the low vorticity in
the spanwise direction when compared to the
clean wing. Also if we observe carefully the wing
with winglet displayed dispersion of vorticity.

Simple Rounded Wingtip Downswept Wingtip

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Upswept Wingtip Blended Winglet Drooped Winglet

Fenced Winglet Circular Winglet Raked Winglet

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 Additionally, the vortex wake of the wing with winglets configuration was more
concentrated than the other nine wing-configurations, indicating that the energy of the vortex
wake was conserved. By conserving and focusing the energy of the vortex wake aft of the
aircraft, a component of thrust in the forward direction of flight would result.

Wing without Winglet Simple Rounded Wingtip Aftswept Wingtip Downswept Wingtip
 Blended Winglet Drooped Winglet
Upswept Wingtip

Fenced Winglet Circular Winglet 19

Raked Winglet
 CONCLUSION
• The air in the vortex flow in
anticlockwise direction indicating that
air is moving from the lower wing
surface around the wing tip to the upper
surface (from the region of high pressure
to the region of low pressure)
• This study has shown that clean wing
configuration, i.e., wings without
wingtip devices, produce the highest
vorticity magnitudes when compared to
wing configurations that employ
winglets.
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WINGTIP VORTICES WINGTIP VORTICES
VIDEO WITH WING VIDEO WITH AFTSWEPT
WITHOUT WINGLET WINGTIP
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• The vortex wake generated by clean wing configurations reduce
the aspect ratio of the wing, thereby increasing the induced drag on
the wing. The winglet designs employed in this study demonstrate
the potential to produce a component of force in the thrust
direction of the aircraft by concentrating the otherwise turbulent
and chaotic vortex flow behind the wingtips into a more energy-
efficient flow, thereby counteracting the drag on the wing.

• This reduction of the induced drag on an aircraft’s wing offer

advantages in terms of an aircraft’s performance including
improved fuel efficiency, increased range, and reduced wing
loading.
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 THE END
THANK YOU
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