Performance analysis of a wing with multiple winglets

This effort examined the potential of multi-winglets for the reduction of induced drag without increasing the span of aircraft wings. Wind tunnel models were constructed using a NACA 0012 airfoil section for the untwisted, rectangular wing and flat plates for the winglets. Testing of the configurations occurred over a range of Reynolds numbers from 161,000 to 300,000. Wind tunnel balances provided lift and drag measurements, and laser flow visualization obtained wingtip vortex information. The Cobalt60 unstructured solver generated flow simulations of the experimental configuration via solution of the Euler equations of motion. The results show that certain multi-winglet configurations reduced the wing induced drag and improved lift by 15-30% compared with the baseline 0012 wing. A substantial increase in lift curve slope occurs with dihedral spread of winglets set at zero incidence relative to the wing. Dihedral spread also distributes the tip vortex. These observations supplement previous results on drag reduction due to lift reorientation with twisted winglets set at negative incidence.