Faculty: Dr. Mosfequr Rahman and Dr. Marcel Ilie, Mech. Eng.

Objectives: Experimentally and numerically investigation of the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft wing by incorporating best design and orientation winglet of different airfoils.

Equipment, Instrumentation and Methods: Georgia Southern Subsonic Wind Tunnel and Wind Energy Laboratory has model test-set-up with data acquisition systems, Vernier Energy Sensor, pressure sensor, static and torque sensors, laser tachometer. This lab also has computing facilities which include software such as ANSYS FLUENT, SOLIDWORKS, LabVIEW, and LabQuest. The REU students will learn to test different scale airplane wing models made of various airfoils with various shapes and orientation winglets in the wind tunnel, will collect experimental data using the DAQ to measure the aerodynamic characteristics. They will learn about: drag coefficient, lift coefficient, lift to drag ratio and aerodynamic efficiency. Using the ANSYS-FLUENT, CFD modeling they will learn to optimize the design of wing with different winglets design & orientation.

Expected Scientific and Educational Outcomes: The REU students will determine the lift coefficient, drag coefficient, and efficiency of wing models with different design winglets at various Reynolds numbers. They will find the best winglet design for enhanced wing efficiency. The outcome of computational research will be an improved optimum aircraft wing model with efficient winglet design. The REU students will learn about the wing theory, instrument the wing with pitot tubes, build a measurement chain, calibrate the sensors, learn the wind tunnel operation, error analysis, modify the flow’s Reynolds and Mach numbers, learn basic of FEA with ANSYS, discretization and meshing, types of fine elements, convergence, computer time, etc. They will measure pressure and velocity on different surfaces with different design winglets at various wind speed to determine with statistical relevance aerodynamic characteristics. REU students will produce a scientific paper draft in ASME format and posters.