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FROM ANY LITIGATION WHICH NAAY TN~
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ON! DOMESTIC CIR

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52'752

Aerodynamic Shape of the Wing Tlips

(None)
Hoerner, Sihard
Engineering Division, Air Materiel Command
Air Materiel Command, Wright- Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, 0.

I3-458 -3-ZT
AFTr%-5732

one)

Unclass.

U.S.

English

photo

itudy was made of the aerodynamic characteristics of h wing tips, as well as experimonted Investigations
ncerning the mecauuswm of the tip vortices and the lift/drag ratio of a wing fltt4d with differently _p~I
rng tips. Results show there are two ways in which the wing tips affect flow and lurces on a ,-zog: contering the tip vortices the effective span, of a wing does not coincide with the geometrical gnan, i.e., thO
ometrical location of the tip vortices depends upon the shape of the wing tips; ard that some paramig drag
Lginates t
the wing tips, its amount also depending upon the shape of the wing tiM. Using these ren.uts,
optimum wing-tip shape is described. This wing tip has a sharp side edge, its plane form shows a
-er at the trailing edge and its upper surface extends approximately straight to the end. Emplyin, this
id of wing tip the climbing speed is Increased in the order of I ft/sec and the range by 1 or 2%, In compaxi.i tu disadvantageous ip shapes.
Copies of this rf.port obitnabie from CADO
Aer'odynaamics (2)
Wings and Airfoils (8)

Wing tipq - Aerodynamics characterIstics (99147.193); Vortex Thaory (9731O)

-l

I.

"ATI No.

ulna

AERODYNAMIC SHAPE OF THE WI6G TIPS

UNITED STATES AIR

AIR MATERIEL

*i'I"

Wright-Patterson

Datn

%ir For.r

-o

52732

NOTM
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The Information furnished herewith is made available for study

upon the understanding that the Government's proprit
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Patent & Royalties Section, Office of the Judge Advocate, Air
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m t

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Notic: '11his document contains information affecting the
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ights which may be involved.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

AIR MATERIEL CCOMMA1W
'URIGHT-PATTMON AIR FORCE BASE
DAYTON, OHIO
TECHNICAL Mr?ORT

No.- 5752
AERODYNAMIC SHAPE OF~THE WING TIPS

Dr. Sigbard Hoerner

Approvedt

Chief, Aircraft laboratory

For thm Coin~zzx Gonmra1:

Yn.R.

WDENT

Ohibfj, Wriqin@@ring 04A'tlorr

~. ~8in33TP

W.A..

JUL 41

In

1iirkwring Dlivig o n

TAMWCOM
Page m'-"r
1.
TJI

IUl
ITV
V.

er,,aits Wing-Tip Drag. . . . ..........

Foere Measueremnts on Wig

. . . . . . . . .*.

Effect on Flight Performames ...

. 3

. . .

Practical Design of the Wing-ip cape ......

References . . . . . . . . ...

r752

....

Xweaton of the Wing-Tip Vortices .....

. . . . . . . . .

4i

ABSTRACT

The author studied the aerodynatic characteristics of wing tipa, and be

did, and had Gmrman research institutions do, experizntal invectigations
concerning the mechanism of tbs tip vortices and the lift/drag ratio of a wizW
fitt*d with several differently shaped tip caps@
There are two wqs in which thvi wing Uips affect flow and forces on a
(a) Gonsidering the tip vortices the effective span of a wing does

wireS

not coincide with the geometrical span; that is, the geometrical location of Whw
tip vortices depends upon the shape of the wing tips. (b) Sore. parasite
drag originates from the wing tips, its amount also depending upon the shape
of tha tip caps.
The main results of the toots as mentioned, are presented in this roport,
and the optimum wing-tip shape (No. 5) is described in Figure. 9. This tip cap
has a sharp side edge, its plane form shows a corner ot the trailing Adge and
its upper surface extends approximately straight to the :-nd, Mxploying this
kind of wing tip the climbing speed is increased in the crder of 1 ft/sec and
the range by 1 or 2%, in comparision to disadvantageous tip shapes.

'

ii

AuRODYNLIC SHAP%" OF THW WING TIPS

I.

Location of The Wing-Tip Vortices

From each tip of a wing a sharply determined vortex is origirvting. These

tip vertices must not be confusod with the vortex sheet originating from the
trailing edge of the wing. This sheet transforms itself very soon into the
.
ip vortices,
pair of tip vortices. Fig. 1 shows the formation of one of the tw.o
made visible when releasing gasoline through an ersrgeny, outlet at the 1fft
wing t*p. The two vortices form a stable system (horseshoe vortex), the inherant
momentum of which is the equivalent of the induced drag. Like this drag, the
vortices cannot 1hP. avoided in practical airplane construction.
,ffective Span
The distance bi bptween thm two vortices is a measure of the effective
span of the wing. If measured along the trailing edge of the wing, bi is
usually sml~fthan the actual span b by 10% or 20% of the wing chord. The
larger the value of bi, the smaller is the induced angle of at'.ack And 41.ho
curve slope. Th- induced drag is an
induced drag and the greater the lift
important property of the wing (f an airplane; the slope is of special interest
when using the wing as a horizontal tail surface.
Pigure 2 shows the geomtric )ocation of the tip vortex core for six
different tip shapes, as measured in Ref. 3. The tips No* 1, 2 and 6 present

the largest effective spans bi. Evidently the trailing edge of the wing tip
is important, dir-cting the vortex as far outward as possible.

Side !Ages
The tips 1 in comparison to 2. and h in comparison to 3, show larger bi
Values.* Obviously the sharp 6ide edges are advantageous; on the other hand,
well rounded edges facilitate the flow around them, from the lower to the
upper wing surface, as illustrated with tip No. 2 in Fig. .

Lift Curve Slope

Figure 3 shoaw the relation be~weon thp lift curve slope and th" distance
of
,1-i vwtic...; for thi aspect ratio 3 as used with the experiw-nts in Rof. 3.
bi
Prom the lifting line theory

1f4YP
~~t'nt.+)~Influoncem

of attack inrto degrees,

it
d C-

L~74'4

of t'h. vitn,

c'hrd

is derived in hef. 8:

ani

cnnnvo-rtinc! 4thel anti.,'

th- oxpi-rimental poinzts in Fig. 3 and Ai indicating

(b'/-)) AA. in the present case AA=2y/c was
Z as measured on thob prolongation of the wing trailing edge,

wit-. A.I., cnagon as to mnat~ch

tJ,-i -tffctiv, aupect ratio =

tak~- ~

Fnd.Plate Ftffct
The points 1 and 5 lie below the calculated curve. It was leuirnp~d from
the f-.orn trical measurements on this tip vortices, that these two tip 3hapea
have a vortex-cor* location which is approximatel~y 5% of the wing chord higher
than with thp other Prins. In effect this location means a formation of the
vortex sheet leaving tho trailing edge, similar to that of a wing fitLted with
small and plates.
Ref. h confirmq thina fftmet,
A reircle wing with the up~per surface running
straight from side edge to sids- edge,. shows a higher lift/drag .*atio than a
symptrically designed wing. Tha.t means, the effective wing span is somewhat
i~nreajsed, owing to thp dihedral eff-ct.

Rolling Moment
The rolling mompnt of a wing due, to yaw, is affected by a wing tip similar
to No. 5 in Yig. 1. With a wing of aspect ratio 6., a thickrinhes ratio t/c -12%
and a trapezodial plan form having Ctip/ Ceent<v
0.6, the form No. 5 or the
tip cap 43 recomm-nded in Part V, presetis an ntflct equivalent to approximtely
1.50 of positive wing dihedral.

III

Parasite Wing..Tip Drag

Figuro 4~ shows tbe side component of the flow at the wing tip As d#erived
from visual observations in a water tunnel (Ref 2). A larger or szaaller amount
Of parasite drag is connected with this flow, owing to flow separation. It.
magnitude was determined ba mome ntum loss measureiwnts within the vortex cw'e
('ef 5); that ia, measurements were conducted in the wake of a wing model,
employing a emill sphere (2-dimensional yaw head) far determining pressures andi
argles of the loc.al flow* At zero lift the parasite* tip drag deponds on the
shape of its ftnrward portion. Tips well rounded toward their leading edge
present a small negative amunt of tip drag, obviously owing to thm fa~ct that
the 2-dimensionaf-7l-n-g-7;ow is changed To a 3-diwensional ne-ar the tips.
Parasite Drag Depending !!pon Lift
At positive lift coefficionts Fig. 5 indicates rplatively small drag
coafficiontbi for all the sharp edges (vos. 4., 5 and 6). 7vidently thoy match
t-hp raturn-i fJlow shown on Fig. It much better than the square and blunt a!,LNos. I and 2. Accordingly the latter show a Darasito drag approx~imsat .1y i-uic f
'R,9 largA ai
tive sharp-edged t orus.
Th

pav-asit^ tip-drag must not be contused with the induced drag.

sismiiar to t11 s onem,

im'rivod

f~n ar'LAir

uf

ir~rerasoas with a high poweor Of CL.

it

sharp-..dgedj tip caps that

Howevemr,
From FIg. 5 1-t ,an be.

Ill.

F...em M.asur-ments on Wings

rei

wrtsn

on a Wing Series

Fib. 6 shown the lift and drag coefficients for a wing with aspect ratio 3,
fitted 4ith the 6 different tip caps as illustrated in Fig. 1. Neglecting No* 1,
coefficients, the Nos. 5 and 6 are
which naturally is the worst at small lift
th@ best ones; that means they show the high-st lift/drag ratios. Applying the
knowledge acquired in the Paragraphs I and II, the efficiency of the different
tips can be attributed to the following causess

Lift

Result Due to:

high

Sharp side edge and complete trailing edge.

2
3

low
low
low
high
high

Round side edge, in spite of complete trailing edge.

Round side edge, cut-away trailing edge*
Cut-away trailing edge, in spite of sharp side edge.
Sharp side edge and rather complete trailing edge.
Sharp side edge, full trailing edge.

4
5
6

Shape No. 5 follows best the natural flow direction, as shown in Fig. h. This
number and No. 1 show in addition a favorable end plate effect as explained
wvidently those tip forms are the beat which employ sharp side edges
before.
It can also be seen from Fig. 6 that
and complete or full trailing edges.
values, probably owing to the effect of
tips 1, 5 and 6 have the highest C
the trailing edge. Considering prac cal application, tip No. 5 is preferred
uver No. 6 because of simpler design and construction.

W!iai; Tanks
The worst form, as far as lift
and drag is concerned, is the No. 2,
because of its well rounded edge, which allows the flow to get around it from
In this connection Fig. 7
the lower to the upper side, as shown in Fig. l.
infiui-nce
of a wing-tip shape
presenting
the
furnishes further inforatton,
ainilar to a sm9 l drop tank. Owing to this tip form, the lift-curve slope
is decreased by 5 and 9% respectively as compared to conventional tip shapes.
That means, the induced angle of attack (and accordingly the induced drag)
is increased by approximately 11 to 20% in this case. However, different
ex_-printal results on a pair of tip tanks aro presented in Ref.6. Upon adding
tne tanks to the wing the llft/drag ratio is somewhat increased above CL a O.9.

Obviously in this case the tanks act like endplates,

their din.nnions being

much larger than those in Figs.-4 and 7; d 6 ttip and 10 3 5tip . In fact it
is possible to compute a difference of induced drag as measured when taking into
Account both the endplate effect and the wing span, which is sorpwhat omnlarg.'d
by, th- tanks.
!Mr

11n
. Data

In Fig. 8 general data arp givon, indicating the effectivp aspect ratio
lnr addition to the systematic vpasvn_-nts of Ref. 3,
of various wing, farms.
Tow =or^ rxferincos hive bUn used, indicating especially thp valuos of
.UIptlcal and nwvpt wings.
it is rismarkabl that tho elliptical plan form

-'rac*.ciiy ao-i not present the smalst possible Amount of induced angle and.
indic- arnp aR pr-ict-d by theory, especially not if the quartm chord points are
In tids case (see Fig. 8), not only a rear
Lined -3 on Lhe latoral wing ads..
orrnr i- missing, but the wing looks like a large portion of *iig area was cut
off at tho outer part of the trailing edge. Such a cutting of results in shifting
the tip vortex inward, as shown - FVg. 2, and in reducing the effective wing aspctratio correspondingl*y

s.pt Wings
found that the
Considering swept wings from various sources (Ref 7), itb
curve slope are attained appromatel=
minimum induced drag and the saxium lift
50 with ( measured on the quarter chord line.
So;
at an angle of sweep I
This mount of positive mue ,mans for the avorage trapesoidal wing almost a
Here again, the Importance of the trailing edge is
straight trtiling edge.
obvious; according to Fig. 8 an effective aspect ratio is obtained which is

slightly

IT,

5jMr tnhaf tho geomtrical ore.

'ffeet

on Flight Perfor

@aea

From Fig. 1 or 8 it can be seen that the advantageous tip shapes act
approximately as if thn aspect ratio of the wing was enlarged by AA = 0.3 over
In tha case of an average
tbat Af some of tk disadvantageous wing forms
amlitary airplane with W/S - 4O lb/ft 2 and CL)/C2 = 150 and A = 7, th-rfore,
, the climbing speed JA
by changing the tip shape from No. 2 .'r 3 to No.0
Aso concerning range, the shape of the wing
ilereasod at the rate of 1 ft/sac.
Corresponding to UA - 0.3 tho range is incrrased
tips has a certain bearing.
can be accomplished by
by i or 2%.
Tbese imrovw
nts are not large; but thq
proper design without any disadvantages or additional expenditures in conitruction.
Of course, the effect on the flying qualities (rolling moment), as presented by
a tip shape similar to No. 5 (Fig. 2), bas to be considered too.

Practical DNsign of thp WingM-Tip Caps

V.

Tho +4- !...

o pZ

No. 5, besides No. 6.

in4g a3 the most advantageous in Figs. 5 and 6 is thp

If, by imagination, ths end of a sufficiently long

trapezodial wing becs cut off from blo'r, in an oblique diraction, autcnmtically
This shapp has to b0 rounded in its
the basic form of No. 5 13 obtained.
Finall7, by fairini, the
forwnrd part, apTroxi'ately up to the maximum span.
pl.r
transition from thp lcwr wing surface towarithp tUD and by r-placing
thP shape as shown in Fig. .' 5 obt22.iad.
uirzlac. by a curvod onoi,
-ut
TIV
Th span of th- tip cap is approximatply a.& (0.25 to 0.30) ctiD.
The dpeigin ,as to b)e Adjuelt'd
Y+
-ynjed
up .o LUu- r-ar corrbr.
1i 1]ar-n ii W-t
faithfuliy to thicknroi ratios and noction shapes diffprent from the ayarivla
-.. hown In Fi.
o
'1nr-n.
-

-..

ccan.- lo-eignod ac.;Jr.iZ to the rulps outlined abov-,

~~ T
ass t,ti-h
si ! - r 26,
5
h '6 iuipr.l 5 )ind

havo 'hon
w-ith fho moro

recent vprsions of the Junkera 87 and 88.

dPsln4s Incorporating s3iilir principles.

Frobably thmre are also American

1.

IAurner, Einflusa der Kantenabrundung ani Widerstand und Aukrieb, Influence

of Rornding the Side Edges of a Wing on Drag and Lift, Grman Doct ZWB FB
248 (DVL 1935).

2.

Hoerner, Raemwlicia Untersuchungen in Wasserkanal, Three-Dimensional

Investigations in the Water Tunrel, Germam Doct Fieseler Wasserkanalbericht
16 (1939).

3* K assalkaul, Dreikomoneutenuessungen und Strombilduntersuchungen an Fluegeln

mit verachiedenen ErAkppen, Three-Component and Flow-Pattern 'xperiments on
Wirgs Fitted with Various Tip Caps, Geruan Doct Institute for Aircraft
Design, Technical University Braunschweig, Rpt from 3) May 1941.

4. Zimraan, Characteristics of Several Airfoils of Low Aspect Ratio, NACA

T. Note 539,
5e

Hoernor, Vr-ittlung des schaedlichen Randwiderstandpms, Determination of the

Parasite Drag Originating from the Wing Tips, Gorman Doct Mosserschmitt TB
92 or ZIN UM 7815 (1943).

6.

Johnson, Development of the Lockheed P-80A Jet Fighter Airplane, J. Aeron. 5c.
Vol. 12, 1947, p. 659.

7.

Hoerner, Air Drag, Volume 2, Wing Drag Associated with Lift, Unpublished
German Report.

8.

Hoprnpr, Berechnung des raeumlichen Tragfluegels Calculation of Wings mith

Limited Span, German Doct Ilesserschmitt TB 45/19h.

9.

Hoermer, Forugebung der Flumgetrandkappe, The Shapo of the Wing-Tip Cap,

Lilit-nthal Conference Rpt 179a, 1944, p. 69 or Doct ZWB3 Ul 7819.

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I TITLEAerodynamic Shape of the Wing Tips

AUTHOR(S)

:Hoerner, Sighard

C"5 e/,/

(.-/

"

U..

nalish

I'9 1
9photo

ORIG. AGENCY :Engineering Division, Air Materiel Command

PUBUSHED BY :Air Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, 0.

7.Z.".
I,,.=S" E '
(Z=one I(Noel
Unlap.

52752
NAU)-

`o
-,,,,

"

ABSTRACT:
A study was made of the aerodynamic characteristics of wing tips, as well as experimental investigations
concerning the mechanism of the tip vortices and the lift/drag ratio of a wing fitted with differently shaped
wing tips. Results show there are two ways'in which the wing tips affect flow and forces on a wing: considering the tip vortices the effective span ofa wing does not coincide with the geometrical span, i.e., the
geometrical location of the tip vortices depends upon the shape of the wing tips; and that some parasite drag
.originates
f ron the wing tips, its amount also depending upon the shape of the wing tip. Using these results,
an optimum wing-tip shape is described. This wing tip has a sharp side edge, its plane form shows a
corner at the trailing edge and its upper surface extends approximately straight o the end. Employing this
kind of wing tip the climbing speed is increased in the order of 1 ft/sec and the range by I or 2%,in comparisop to disadvantageous tip shaas.
.
,
/
(1)
)
D
Copies of this report obltinable ftin
4DISTRlBtTION:
DIVISION: Aerodynamics (2)
SECTION: Winzs and Airfoils (6

SUBJECT HEADINGS: Wing tips - Aerodynamic

istics (q0147.193); Vortex Theory (97380)

AD-A800 374i-

character-