Numerical and Experimental Study of Winglet Effect with Different Cant Angles

The present work aims to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of the winglet cant angle of Boeing 737-800 wing numerically and experimentally. The wing contain two swept angles 38.3o and 29.13o respectively, taper ratio 0.15 and aspect ratio 8.04. The wing involves three types of airfoils sections. Four cant angles for blended winglet have been considered (0o, 34o, 60o, 83.3o). The winglet has been analyzed to find the best cant angle for the wing without and with winglet. These models have been tested theoretically at Reynolds number of 2.06 x106 in order to study the winglet aerodynamic characteristics which consist of coefficient of Drag, coefficient of lift and Lift to drag ratio, pitching moment coefficient and bending moment coefficient for (0o, 2o, 4o, 6o, 8o, 10o) angles of attack. SOLIDWORK 2016 software, was used to design the geometry of the wing and winglet. ANSYS FLUENT 17.0 in three dimensions with (k - e) turbulent model was used to solve the governing equations. The experimental tests were carried out in an open low subsonic wind tunnel of 70cm × 70cm ×150cm test section at Reynolds number of 4.33 x105. The experimental lift, drag forces and pitching moment measurement were considered by three component balance device at different angles of attack. The results show that 34o cant angle is the best angle, at which 2-3% increase in lift coefficient, 2-3.9% decrease in drag coefficient, 3.5-6% increase in pitching moment coefficient and 3-6.6% increase in lift to drag coefficient by using blended winglet. Good agreement between the experimental and computational results are shown.