An experimental study of the aerodynamic influence of a pair of winglets on a flat plate model

The influence of a pair of thin stationary winglets on the aerodynamics of a bluff body is studied in this paper. The bluff body in question is a rectangular prism with a width-to-depth ratio of nine, and is referred to as a flat plate. The aerodynamic and aeroelastic characteristics studied experimentally were the static aerodynamic force and moment coefficients, their rate of change with angle of wind incidence and the motional aerodynamic derivatives. observed that a pair of winglets placed directly above the leading and trailing edges of the rectangular prism improved its aeroelastic characteristics. The winglets provided important aerodynamic damping and reduced the sensitivity of the rectangular prism to torsional aerodynamic instability. The experimental approach and a summary of the main findings are presented.