Title: SuperElliptical wing platforms for induced drag reduction

Authors: Daniel Raymer; Dilek Funda Kurtuluş; Berkan Anılır; Alexis Lapouille; Mathieu Passe; Louis Le Strat; Sina Golshany; Chris Holtorf; Charles Peot

Addresses: Conceptual Research Corporation, P.O. Box 5429, Playa del Rey, CA 90296, USA ' Aerospace Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey ' Aerospace Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey ' Mgr., Aero Concept Engineering, Technopole du circuit, Magny-Cours, Bourgogne Franche Comté 58470, France ' Mgr., Aero Concept Engineering, Technopole du circuit, Magny-Cours, Bourgogne Franche Comté 58470, France ' Mgr., Aero Concept Engineering, Technopole du circuit, Magny-Cours, Bourgogne Franche Comté 58470, France ' Fabricated Extrusion Company, 2331 Hoover Ave., Modesto, CA 95354, USA ' Fabricated Extrusion Company, 2331 Hoover Ave., Modesto, CA 95354, USA ' Fabricated Extrusion Company, 2331 Hoover Ave., Modesto, CA 95354, USA

Abstract: A parametric CFD investigation into SuperElliptical Wing Planforms is presented. By defining a wing planform using a superellipse with exponent slightly greater than two, it was speculated that a more-elliptical lift distribution may be obtained that from an actual elliptical wing, resulting in a reduction in induced drag. CFD analysis by three organisations seems to confirm this speculation and points to a superellipse exponent of 2.3 as offering the lowest drag. The slight weight increase for this superelliptical planform wing is approximated using standard quasi-empirical equations. Comments are made about accuracy of results and a comparison to a previous wing optimisation study. The use of superellipse mathematics to define smooth crescent wings is also presented.

Keywords: elliptical wing; Oswald's efficiency factor; computational fluid dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2025.147800

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2025 Vol.25 No.4, pp.242 - 251

Received: 12 Aug 2024
Accepted: 15 Dec 2024
Published online: 01 Aug 2025 *

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