Control surface effectiveness of low Reynolds number flight vehicles

Abstract

Low-speed wind tunnel tests are carried out to investigate the control surface effectiveness at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 20,000-80,000). A thick airfoil, NACA0012, has a nonlinearity of the control surface effectiveness, which are associated with flow separation both on the upper and lower surfaces and a formation of a laminar separation bubble. Thin airfoils such as NACA0006 and a 3%c flat plate have a much smaller nonlinearity of the control surface effectiveness. These differences in the control surface effectiveness are due to the nonlinearity of the lift curve for each airfoil, and the flow separation behavior has a profound effect on the control surface effectiveness.