Abstract
Computational fluid dynamics is employed to predict the aerodynamic properties of the prototypical trailing-edge control surfaces for a small, regional transport, commercial aircraft. The virtual experiments are performed at operational flight conditions, by resolving the mean turbulent flow field around a realistic model of the whole aircraft. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach is used, where the governing equations are solved with a finite volume-based numerical method. The effectiveness of the flight control system, during a hypothetical conceptual pre-design phase, is studied by conducting simulations at different angles of deflection, and examining the variation of the aerodynamic loading coefficients. The proposed computational modeling approach is verified to have good practical potential, also compared with reference industrial data provided by the Leonardo Aircraft Company.
Highlights
Present trends in commercial aircraft design methodologies, which are mainly oriented toward cost reduction for product development, demand the accurate prediction of the control surfaces aerodynamics, to examine the aircraft flight control system early in the design process
The present study focuses on the computational evaluation of the aerodynamics of the trailing-edge control surfaces of a mid-range commercial aircraft
The present study must be intended as the proof-of-concept, namely the initial development of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based procedure for predicting the aerodynamics of the flight control system of a mid-range commercial aircraft
Summary
Present trends in commercial aircraft design methodologies, which are mainly oriented toward cost reduction for product development, demand the accurate prediction of the control surfaces aerodynamics, to examine the aircraft flight control system early in the design process. Vortex Lattice Method (VLM) is still widely used in evaluating the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft in the early design stages [1,2]. Owing to their high computational speed, VLM solvers give an immediate feedback on design changes, making quantitative knowledge available earlier in the design process. Recent developments in meshing technology, numerical algorithms and calculation performance have allowed high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to be intensively used by industrial researchers to produce relevant aerodynamic databases. While CFD has been usually employed to Aerospace 2020, 7, 139; doi:10.3390/aerospace7100139 www.mdpi.com/journal/aerospace
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