Structural Design and Aerodynamic Characteristic of an Innovative Split Aileron Configuration

An innovative design scheme of the aileron configuration, called no assembled gap of trailing-edge of the wing, uses split aileron that hat is located on the under surface of the trailing edge of a small (<30 kg) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to control roll movement in flight rather than a conventional aileron. Three types of the split aileron, including the upper position, middle position, and bottom position against rotation axis, are designed for analysis. The aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil with a split aileron are researched by computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation, and the deflection angle of the separate aileron is found to be disadvantageous for enhancing the lift-to-drag. Therefore, taking the vortex flow into account, the maximum deviation angle of 31 degrees is defined. Compared with the reference configuration, an optimal bottom position of the split aileron can be obtained, which the lift-to-drag ratio is increased by 25.9% relative to the upper position of the separate aileron at 15 degrees deflection angle and 3 degrees angle of attack.