Originally Posted by
Scuffers
OK, as an engineer, I am struggling to understand how winglets would make any difference to the loading on this fork?
My thinking is this, the plane's body mass has to be supported by the wings, makes no odds if the wings are bigger/smaller or more/less efficient, they still have to hold up the same mass.
Remember first year solid mechanics?
Bending moment is the product of force by distance.
An aircraft supported at the wingtips would exert a much higher bending moment at the wing roots than one supported beneath the engines, close to the fuselage.
The winglets alter the distribution of the wing outwards by making the wing tips more efficient, thus increasing the bending moment at the fuselage.
Originally Posted by
Fly Aiprt
If the wing and fuselage structure were infinitely rigid, indeed there would be not problem.
Regardless of the stiffness of the structure, increasing the lift at the wingtips moves the effective location of the total lift in the wing outwards, increasing the bending moment at the fuselage.