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Swept UAV Wing with Tip Winglet: Wingtip Vortex & Lift/Drag (CFD)
3D incompressible RANS (k-ω SST) external aerodynamics of a swept UAV wing with blended tip winglet at α = 9.5° and U_∞ = 35 m/s in a virtual wind tunnel, resolving upper-surface suction, pressure drag, and the trailing wingtip vortex core.
Small and tactical UAVs rely on swept tapered wings with blended winglets to suppress wingtip vortex roll-up and reduce induced drag during loiter and climb. This 3D CFD model embeds a half-span swept UAV wing with canted tip winglet at α = 9.5° angle of attack inside an 800 × 380 × 440 mm virtual wind tunnel domain. Solved with native SU2_CFD using the Menter k-ω SST turbulence model at U_∞ = 35 m/s (air, ρ = 1.225 kg/m³), the simulation resolves stagnation pressure on the leading edge (+937.5 Pa), flow acceleration over the cambered suction surface up to 43.79 m/s (−565.9 Pa suction peak), integrated aerodynamic coefficients (C_L = 1.1321, C_D = 0.5200), and the helical wingtip vortex wake captured via Q-criterion iso-surfaces.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •Single B-Rep fluid control volume (D_fluid = WindTunnel − Wing): 800 mm streamwise length (X ∈ [-250, 550] mm), 380 mm half-span (Y ∈ [0, 380] mm), and 440 mm height (Z ∈ [-220, 220] mm).
- •Swept tapered UAV wing (half-span b/2 = 240 mm, root chord 140 mm, pitched at α = 9.5°) transitioning into an upswept tip winglet.
- •Unstructured 3D tetrahedral volume mesh generated by Netgen: 19,445 tetrahedra and 4,200 nodes (volume discretization error 0.00%).
- •Working fluid: standard air (ρ = 1.225 kg/m³, dynamic viscosity μ = 1.81×10⁻⁵ Pa·s) with Menter k-ω SST turbulence closure.
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Upstream tunnel inlet face (surface number 1): uniform velocity inlet U_in = 35.0 m/s along +X ([1, 0, 0]).
- •Downstream tunnel exit face (surface number 6): static gauge pressure outlet p_out = 0 Pa.
- •Root symmetry plane (Y = 0) and outer far-field tunnel walls (surfaces 2, 3, 4, 5): slip / symmetry boundary condition.
- •All internal wing and winglet wet surfaces (surfaces 7–11): viscous no-slip adiabatic wall (u = 0).
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Peak flow velocity over the upper wing surface reaches |U|_max = 43.79 m/s (1.25× freestream speed), paired with a minimum suction pressure of −565.9 Pa and leading-edge stagnation pressure of +937.5 Pa.
- ✓Integrated aerodynamic forces on the half-wing: lift F_L = 6.107 N (C_L = 1.1321) and total drag F_D = 2.805 N (C_D = 0.5200, L/D = 2.18 at high-alpha climb condition).
- ✓Strong trailing wingtip vortex roll-up resolved downstream of the winglet tip with peak vorticity |ω|_max = 2,038.6 s⁻¹ and Q-criterion core intensity Q_max = 5.94×10⁵ s⁻²; mass conservation imbalance is 0.02%.
WebCAE enables UAV designers to run 3D RANS external aerodynamics directly on B-Rep wing geometries, comparing winglet cant angles, stall margins, and lift-to-drag ratios with full 3D streamlines and Q-criterion vortex visualization.
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