Drag Reduction by Wingtip-Mounted Propellers in Distributed Propulsion Configurations

Tip-mounted propellers can increase wing aerodynamic efficiency, and the concept is gaining appeal in context of hybrid electrical propulsion for greener aviation, as smaller lighter motors help with mitigating structural drawbacks a tip engine installation. A numerical study propeller effects on aerodynamics herein illustrated, considering different power configurations Regional Aircraft wing. drag breakdown analysis using far-field methods presented one most promising configurations, comparison between reductions obtained or standard winglet installation also provided. Numerical flow simulations Finite Volume Methods actuator disk models are compared results Vortex-Lattice Method, force calculation performed mesh sizes. reduction up to 6% (10%) predicted under typical cruise (climb) flight conditions when wingtip-mounted take over half total thrust usually provided by turbo-prop engines installed at inboard position. Drag confirmed that observed benefits mainly come from reversible component, increasing effective span efficiency.