Effect of control surface and reynolds number on flow separation of generic light aircraft

The objective of this project is to investigate the nature of flow separation on a generic SME MD3 160 light aircraft model. The experiment was conducted in UTM low speed tunnel to investigate the flow separation behavior of a 15% scaled down two-seater light aircraft model, Malaysian made SME MD3-160 aircraft. The model has overall length of 1.3m and wingspan of 1.5m. It is designed for external balance and surface pressure measurement studies. The experimental works were conducted at three speeds of 30m/s, 35m/s, 40m/s corresponding to Reynolds numbers which are 0.414, 0.515, 0.519 million with angle of attack ranging from -6°to 23°. Flaps were deflected at 5° 10° 20° during testing. Steady balance and surface pressure data were recorded simultaneously. It showed that flaps promoting stall at 12° and at angle of attack 14° pressure recovery was hindered resulting to a dramatic change of pressure on the surface.