The Effect of Winglets on Low Aspect Ratio Wings

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this experiment is to observe if there are any effects of winglets on a low aspect ratio wing, particularly dealing with wingtip vortices. Methods/Materials A low aspect ratio wing was constructed and fitted with winglets with heights of 5, 7.5, and 10 cm. Based on the background research and previous knowledge, it was hypothesized that the addition of winglets on a low aspect ratio wing will improve the lift to drag ratio over that of a low aspect ratio wing without winglets. The wing was then placed in the wind tunnel test bed and force instruments were set up to analyze the lift and drag of the wing with each of the different sizes of winglets. Results The 10 cm winglet had the highest lift, followed by the control, 5 cm, and 7.5 cm winglets. The drags were relatively insignificant. Conclusions/Discussion It was concluded that the winglet needed to be large enough in order to prevent the wingtip vortices from reducing lift. Further experimentation may include testing how much noise the most efficient winglet makes compared to a high aspect ratio wing.

Awards (1)

• Category Award

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics · Entry S0105

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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