LOW-SUBSONIC AERODYNAMIC ANALYSES OF A NONPLANAR BWB MODEL: AN EXPERIMENTAL AND CFD STUDY

A nonplanar wing concept significantly improves the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft. Hence, adopting nonplanar flow control concepts is essential to achieve an enhanced lift performance and controllability. Likewise, the blended wing body (BWB) concept uses a combined wing and fuselage to create a single lifting surface throughout the entire wingspan. The BWB concept offers various advantages such as reduced operating cost, reduced noise emission, and improved aerodynamic efficiency. It was expected that a combination of both nonplanar and BWB model would exhibit better aerodynamic performance. This study investigated the aerodynamic performance of a combined nonplanar and BWB concept model using experimental and computational methods at various angles of attack. The experimental tests were conducted at the de Havilland low-speed wind tunnel facility at the University of Glasgow, while the numerical simulations were carried out using OpenFOAM 8.0. Additionally, optimization of the nonplanar wingtip shape was performed to improve the aerodynamic performance further. The aerodynamic characteristics and flowfield analyses of the wing model were presented and explained using the post-processed figures.