Design, Analysis, and Testing of Winglet Shapes for the Bombardier Dash 8 – Q400 Aircraft

Abstract

A winglet is a small, aerodynamic surface that is attached to the tip of an aircraft's wing to improve overall aerodynamic efficiency. Its primary purpose is to reduce induced drag and enhance fuel efficiency by minimizing vortex drag caused by the pressure difference between the upper and lower wing surfaces. The aim of this thesis is to design, analyze, model, and test a winglet for the Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The design was done using SOLIDWORKS considering the basic scale-down rules of aerodynamics. The optimum angle-of-attack and stall angle of the five designed models were obtained using SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation applying Finite Volume Method (FVM) in a Global Automatic mesh of CFD setting to refine the winglet's aerodynamic performance. Once the design is finalized, a scale model of the winglet was fabricated from ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) considering its low cost and strength-to-weight ratio, using Creality 3D printer through FDM (Fused Deposition Method). The fabricated models were tested ASTU’s GUNT HM 170 open Wind tunnel environment at a subsonic speed to evaluate its real-world aerodynamic properties and validate the CFD simulated results. Among the designs, the raked winglet was selected due to its superior performance. The optimal angle of attack for the raked winglet was determined to be 12.5°, whereas the experimentally tested winglet exhibited an optimal angle of attack at 10°. The maximum lift force achieved with the raked winglet was 138.657 units, indicating a significant improvement over the baseline design.