Experimental Investigation of Wing-Tip Devices on the Reduction of Induced Drag

摘要

Wind tunnel testing was carried out to evaluate the reduction of induced drag using wing-tip blowing, fixed and adaptive multi-winglets. Different arrangements of each device were tested on a semi-span wing, with additional investigations performed on a half-body model of a trainer aircraft. Results include: aerodynamic coefficients; surface pressure distributions; and wake surveys with a multi-hole Pitot probe. The influence of each wing-tip arrangement on aircraft performance was estimated, considering the energy requirements of the blowing system. All devices tested were able to minimize induced drag; however, for practical applications in commercial airplanes, multi-winglets are a more promising alternative-due to the large amount of energy required by wing-tip blowing.