Investigation of tailplane stall for a generic transport aircraft configuration

Summary

The design of a generic wind tunnel model for tailplane stall investigations to setup an experimental database for code validation is presented. The configuration is optimised to obtain large Reynolds numbers at the horizontal tailplane in a wind tunnel of limited size. Fuselage and wing are used to create representative downwash conditions at the tailplane inside the wind tunnel, compared to free flight. The presented strategy doubles the achievable Reynolds number of the tailplane, while simulating the spanwise trends of the downwash in sufficient accuracy. Numerical simulations preliminary to forthcoming wind tunnel investigations, using the unstructured TAU code, show a separation of the boundary layer starting at the trailing edge with high cross flow velocities at the outer tailplane. A deflected elevator shifts flow separation towards lower incidence angles of the tailplane.