Reduction of Induced Drag Using Wing Tip Propeller

Abstract

Winglets are used to reduce the induced drag.. This paper propose an idea of using a propeller at the wing tip. The propeller is mounted in such a way that the blade tip is quite near to the wing tip. The rotation of the propeller induces two kinds of velocities namely an axial velocity and the rotational component of velocity. This rotational component does not allow the flow to curl upwards as it cancels it on the same plane of the wing and the axial component produces some thrust leading to a decrease in fuel consumption and indirectly better performance. The project aims to study the amount of reduction of the induced drag by experimental analysis in the wind tunnel. The results shows the increase in aerodynamic efficiency by using the propeller at the wing tip.