Use of Morphing Winglets for Fuel efficiency

If you have tried making up a paper airplane you would know that folding the wingtips upward
makes your plane look cooler and fly farther. Similarly winglets have been designed to reduce
aircraft fuel consumption. The winglets help in reducing the induced drag of the aircraft and
improve the lift-to-drag ratio thus improving the overall fuel efficiency. Previously,
winglets were designed to provide maximum drag reduction and also ideal lift-to-drag ratio
under cruise flight conditions. Consequently, these winglets may not provide optimal fuel
efficiency during non-cruise conditions, such as during climbs, takeoffs and landings.
Variable geometry winglets
may pose advantage and
result in fuel efficiency in
both cruise and non-cruise
conditions. Moreover, these
variable geometry winglets
may also induce lower wing
bending loads
than winglets that do not
possess variable geometry.
The body portion of the
design includes at least one
of a deflectable control surface, a shape memory alloy (SMA) bending plate, and a SMA torque
tube. The winglet of the aircraft is then changed on an input signal for modification to least
induced drag condition. The concept of using winglet would be a better option than simple wing
extensions as it would result in lesser drag and considerable reduction in wingtip vortices. The
overall estimate of fuel saved during takeoff-cruise will be around 3-5%.