Computational Analysis of Aileron Effectiveness Characteristics on An Advanced Wing

This paper examines the capability of current wing design CFD tools to simulate experimental results from a National Transonic Facility wind tunnel test conducted to investigate Reynolds number effects on aileron effectiveness characteristics. The objective of this study was to reach a better understanding of the flows developing around the aileron. The aileron effectiveness experiment was carried out on an advanced wing with an outboard aileron at two different Reynolds numbers. Experimental results indicate a reduction in aileron effectiveness at high Reynolds number that is not apparent at low Reynolds number. The cause of this reduction seems to be the trailing-edge separation that occurred at high aileron deflections. The flow solver OVERFLOW with the SpalartAllmaras turbulence model was utilized to simulate this flow field. Although CFD predicted pressure distributions correlate well with the test data the increment of rolling moment is under-predict ed. This leads to a delayed prediction of the loss of aileron effectiveness seen experimentally.