Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2021 - 25

Winglet with Injected Flow
Injection of air at the trailing edge of a winglet further
reduces drag.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
uel efficiency is a key driver in aircraft
design, allowing some combination of
lower fuel costs and/or higher payloads.
Wing-tip devices such as winglets -
attachments to the tip of aircraft wings -
are commonly used to minimize wing-tip
vortices, reducing aircraft drag by two to
three drag counts (e.g., allowing for 400600
pounds of additional payload at the
same fuel cost). While lowering drag
overall, some additional drag is induced
at the root of a winglet.
NASA Ames has developed a novel
patent-pending technology that employs
the injection of air at the trailing edge of
a winglet to further reduce drag, resulting
in fuel savings in the operation of the
aircraft. This technology can be applied
to aircraft (large or small) that currently
use winglets and more particularly, to
wing-tip devices with the addition of
pores for reducing vortex drag.
This can be done through either passive
or active designs. In the passive
design, the leading edge of the winglet is
F
made porous (e.g., holes machined, fabricated
using mesh, etc.) to ingest air,
and ducting placed within the wing carries
that air to the trailing edge where it
is injected. In the active design, air lines
already within the wing are tapped to
obtain flow from an existing air source,
such as the bleed air from the engines,
and the air flows out through trailingedge
openings in the winglet to facilitate
trailing-edge air injection.
A passive wing-tip blown effect would
reduce vortex drag and possibly provide
additional lift. In addition, it could also
have an influence on reducing pressureinduced
drag and friction drag. Re -
duction in vortex drag would result in fuel
savings in the operation of the aircraft.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to commercialize
this technology. Please contact
NASA's Licensing Concierge at Agency-PatentLicensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call us at 202358-7432
to initiate licensing discussions.
Follow this link for more information: https://
technology.nasa.gov/patent/TOP2-289.
Winglet
Air inlets along Winglet
leading edge
MOST
MOST
PRECISE OPTICAL
MEASUREMENT
PRECISE OPTICAL
MEASUREMENT
 One sided thickness of transparent material
 High speed up to 70 kHz
 Intelligent controllerIntelligent controller
 One sided thickness of transparent material
 High speed up to 70 kHz
 Intelligent controllerIntelligent controller
 Confocal technology with micron spot size
 Nanometer resolution on diffuse
& specular target
 Confocal technology with micron spot size
 Nanometer resolution on diffuse
& specular target
High speed up to 70 kHz
High speed up to 70 kHz
LASER DISPLACEMENT
SENSORS FOR ADVANCED
AUTOMATION
Air outlets at
Winglet base for
blown tip effect
LASER DISPLACEMENT
SENSORS FOR ADVANCED
AUTOMATION
 Ideal for high resolution & dynamic
measurements
 Ideal for high resolution & dynamic
measurements
 Advanced Surface Compensation for high
speed measurements on changing surfaces
 Advanced Surface Compensation for high
speed measurements on changing surfaces
 Simple installation & initial operation
 Highest ambient light resistance in its class
 Simple installation & initial operation
 Highest ambient light resistance in its class
Porous winglets with ducted outflow.
Tech Briefs, July 2021
Cov
www.techbriefs.com
ToC
Contact our application engineers:
Phone +1/919 787 9707
micro-epsilon.com
Contact our application engineers:
Phone +1/919 787 9707
micro-epsilon.com
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/79415-736
3 nm
70 kHz 3 nm
70 kHz
< 0,4 m
10 kHz
< 0,4 m
10 kHz
45 mm
45 mm
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/TOP2-289 http://info.hotims.com/79415-736 http://www.techbriefs.com http://www.abpi.net/ntbpdfclicks/l.php?202107TBNAV
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2021

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