Parametric study for optimizing winglet efficiency and comparative analysis of aerodynamic performance of a wing with no winglet and with different types of winglets for lighter aircraft

Aircraft performance is highly affected by induced drag caused by wingtip vortices.Winglets are wing tip extensions and are used to minimise vortices formation to improve fuel effi ciency.They are usually used in heavier transport aircraft due to higher operation costs and higher fuel consumption due to higher range missions.The research conducted for this thesis was used to investigate if the use of winglets in lighter low speed aircraft is benefi cial in any way in terms of aerodynamic effi ciency.This project includes a subsonic wind tunnel experiment used for validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, performed on a fi xed rectangular wing of a NACA 653218 aerofoil and a 3D printed blended winglet.The objectives of the analysis were to compare the aerodynamic characteristics of rectangular wing with different types of winglets and perform a parametric study to modify the winglets in order to optimise effi ciency and reduce fuel consumption, as well as investigate the effects of surface roughness on the turbulent boundary layer.The wind tunnel experimental analysis was performed at sea-level conditions.The CFD simulations were performed at low subsonic fl ow in ANSYS CFX using Finite Volume Method, replicating the wind tunnel closed-loop conditions.The cfd fi ndings were compared to existing data and to wind tunnel results.The investigation results indicate that the modifi ed winglets designed for optimization, signifi cantly affect the aerodynamic effi ciency compared to traditional winglets or no winglets and were estimated to produce an approximate increase in lift to drag ratio of 40% using a modifi ed winglet.A specifi c shape of curved winglet was found to be very effective at redirecting fl ow away from the wing and further research is recommended in this type of curved winglet .The effects of the surface roughness on the turbulent boundary layer are recommended for investigation as were not able to be completed due to campus laboratories lockdown.