Investigation of Improvement Design on Aileron Surface Flow State of High Lift Configuration in BWB

Abstract

The aileron is one of the most important tools for adjusting the roll attitude of the aircraft, but the surface flow state of the aileron is likely to be affected by high-lift devices. In this paper, by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and wind tunnel tests, the Krueger flap effects on the surface flow state of ailerons in a typical blended wing body civil aircraft were investigated. In order to increase the lift, deflecting the Krueger flap makes the flow separation occur on the aileron surface of BWB civil aircraft. This way of the surface stall that the flow separation in the aileron zone first appears at the wing tip rather than at the wing root is unreasonable for civil aircraft. For the above problem, a sensitivity analysis of the design parameters of the Krueger flaps was carried out. The results indicate that the angle of the outboard Krueger flap mainly affects the flow separation of the ailerons. Its length affects the pitch moment tremendously, while its width slot affects the pitch moment slightly. Finally, the design principles of the BWB Krueger flap for the improvement aileron surface flow state were proposed, and the redesign of the BWB high lift configuration significantly improved the flow state of the aileron zone at a minimal cost of aerodynamic characteristics without losing the existing great aerodynamic performance.