CFD sensitivity analysis on bumped airfoil characteristics for inflatable winglet

The new aerospace technological milestone is aimed to reducing direct operating costs and pol- lution. In order to obtain pollution reductions via high aerodynamic efficiency, a performance anal- ysis for bumped airfoil based winglet has been pro- posed. Most conventional aircrafts are equipped with fixed winglets to decrease the induced drag; thus, saving more fuel. New projects point to- wards advanced smart materials and telescopic wing tip devices to obtain an adaptive morphing shape that gives, through performance improve- ment, a fuel consumption reduction resulting in less pollutants. The focus of this paper is to evalu- ate the aerodynamic performance, in terms of lift, drag and moment coefficient for a bumped airfoil in climb/descent flight condition at 5000 meters altitude. The performance analysis has been con- ducted via a numerical investigation of the effects of bumps number, height and width for inflatable winglet airfoil, a system that would guarantee a more comfortable arrangement of extraction sys- tem and just minor surplus of weight compared to classical winglet solutions, with all the subsequent advantages.