SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed innovation would do for the tip vortex what the turning vanes do at the inlet to gas turbine combustors, namely reduce the swirl. The intent of this proposal is to study the feasibility of the haney Swirler which consists of a set of vanes at the trailing edge of a downward curved tip, specifically a Sargent type tip. The standard wing tip would be modified to turn the outward flow downward and also to direct the remaining horizontal flow that is still swirling to the Haney Swirler vanes. The vanes would then reduce the tangential velocity of the swirling flow and increase its down stream velocity, resulting in a significant reduction in induced drag. The tips would be designed and models would be built for test in a wind tunnel. To facilitate comparison, we propose a four part test program. First, test a wing with a normal tip. Second, test a wing with a commercial winglet. Third, test a wing using a Sargent tip, and the fourth, test a wing with the Haney Swirler tip configuration. The tests would be conducted in the University of Toledo wind tunnel which has developed equipment and techniques to study vortex flow in conjunction with the NASA Langely Research Center. The data will be analyzed and a report will be published.