Numerical Study of Secondary Flow Characteristics on the Use of the Winglets

The upper surface of the wing is constantly observed by experts on the wing. In this area, a variety of phenomena cause how much aerodynamic performance is demonstrated. Changing or adding geometry to the wing changes the flow characteristics of the upper surface. The use of winglets will certainly change the flow characteristics around the wingtip which will have a large effect on the area behind and next to the winglet itself. This research was carried out using Ansys 19.1 and the turbulent k-ω SST model. The airfoil used is Eppler 562 which is commonly used in unmanned aerial vehicles. Freestream flow velocity that will be used is 10 m/s (Re = 2.34 x 104) withan angle of attack (α) = 12 and 15 . From this study, it was found that the pressure contour in the y-z plane showed a reduction in area and intensity through the use of winglets. Secondary flow formed by using the forward wingtip fence results in a smaller area around the wingtip area than other configurations. Besides, the value of pressure on the upper surface which is equipped with a forward wingtip fence shows that pressure is still quite high when compared to the others.