Análisis experimental del efecto aerodinámico de dispositivos de punta de ala en una aeronave commuter tipo STOL

Abstract

In this investigation, the aerodynamic phenomena of wing tip devices, coupled to the wing of a STOL-type commuter aircraft, called VULTUR, were analyzed. This aircraft was designed by students and teachers of the Los Libertadores University Foundation in collaboration with the Sao Carlos School of Engineering of the University of Sao Paulo, for the Colombian Air Force (FAC). Wind tunnel experiments were performed to determine the best tip device based on the increase in aerodynamic efficiency and reduction of induced drag. These experiments were performed in the wind tunnel type blower located in the experimental aerodynamic laboratory (LAE), of the School of Engineering of Sao Carlos of the University of Sao Paulo, where the force measurement processes were carried out and aerodynamic coefficients under different angles of attack. The results indicated that of the three con fi gurations proposed, the winglet device is more suitable to be coupled to the aircraft wing, because it has the best aerodynamic efficiency since it has a high lift coefficient in which a better distribution of the lift on the surface of the wing and has a low drag and momentum coefficient. It should be noted that these results were validated with simulations of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) carried out by the main research group of the project.