Experimental investigation of a new spiral wingtip

• Main Authors: Siddiqui, Naseeb, Mohammed Aldheeb, Mohammed Abdulmalek, Asrar, Waqar, Sulaeman, Erwin
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 2018
• Subjects: TL500 Aeronautics
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/63237/1/IJAAA%202018-New%20spiral%20wing%20tip.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/63237/7/63237%20Experimental%20investigation%20of%20a%20new%20spiral%20wingtip%20SCOPUS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/63237/13/63237_Experimental%20investigation%20of%20a%20new%20spiral%20wingtip_WoS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/63237/; https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1213&context=ijaaa

Experiments on the relative merits and demerits of slotted wingtips mimicking a bird’s primary feathers have been performed. The real emargination length of feather tips, their flexibility and curved shapes during cruise are considered in the present study. The experiments were performed at a Reynolds number of 3.7 x 105 on a symmetric flat plate half wing of aspect ratio 3. Lift, drag and pitching moments were measured using a six component aerodynamic balance. Four different shapes inspired by bird primary feathers have been analysed. The rigid curved tip performed the best increasing the L/D ratio by 20%. This improvement has been compared with forty different wingtips model available in the literature which shows that rigid curved tip provide better L/D performance. Based on this improvement the key performance indicator of Jet and propeller airplane has been calculated that shows a 7.8% and 9% increase in range for propeller and Jet airplane, respectively.