A comprehensive study on wingtip devices in large civil aircraft

Wingtip devices are commonly used on aircraft because of their good aerodynamic characteristics. However, the flutter characteristics of the aircraft are changed by the devices, and so is the structural weight. In order to explore the overall performance of the wingtip devices in a large civil aircraft, three kinds of wingtip devices (blended, sharklet, ladder) are studied in terms of aerodymaics, fluttering and weight by numerical simulation. There are obvious benefits from drag reduction by adding any of the three wingtip devices, but the structural weight increases as a result. The flutter velocity of the wing is reduced by adding a wingtip device. The results show that the flutter shape depends on the form of the wingtip device. The effect on the flutter velocity of the wing due to the form of the wingtip device is about 1%-7%, which is relatively small. And the overall weight benefits from drag reduction and the displacement of the pressure center can provide certain weight capacity for the structural design.