Numerical Simulation of Airbus A380 Aircraft Wing and Validation of Results for Later Analysis of Winglet Configurations

Abstract

The International Air Transport Association expects 7.8 billion passengers to travel in 2036, a near doubling of the 4 billion air travellers in 2017. This also requires further improvements on aircraft to increase performance, efficiency and decrease in emission. One of the most promising aerodynamic tools for induced drag, (which can be 30–40% of the overall drag of an aircraft) and so the fuel consumption reduction, is the winglet. The goal of the present work is to complete CFD analysis with validation by available data about A380 aircraft wing without winglet. The effect of different winglet configurations can then be analysed, and conclusions can be drawn about the improved design in the next steps of the present work as the simulation results are independent from the simulation settings, they are physically correct and accurate.