Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Aeroplane: Control Surfaces

Related to 021 02 03 (according syllabus of FCL)

Read by: Ieva Misiūnaitė

Assoc. prof., Dep. of Steel & Composite Structures
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Controls and surfaces used during Landing

SLATS: Slats are leading edge extensions that

increase the overall camber of the wing, producing
more lift at slower airspeeds.
FLAPS: The "kissing cousins" of slats. These extend
from the trailing edge of the wings surface. Like the
slats, they increase the overall camber of the wing
producing more lift at slower airspeeds.
AILERONS: Ailerons control the rolling motion of the
aircraft. Like all control surfaces, they become less
effective as the airspeed of the aircraft decreases.
(Today lecture)
RUDDER: The rudder controls the yaw of the aircraft,
the rotation around the vertical axis.
ELEVATOR: The elevator controls the pitch of the
aircraft, nose up or nose down.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Torsion of the wings

 Torsion is the stress that resists twisting. For
example the twisting force applied to a wing
when aileron is deflected sets up torsional stress
in the wing structure. This twisting force is
known as torque. In other words: the application
of aileron in flight will tend to twist the wing,
due to reduced stiffness.
 Also a negative or positive wing sweep may cause
a higher degree of torsion, compared to a
rectangular wing, due to a reduced stiffness.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Fundamentals to Roll Control

 In a conventional, human-operated control

system, the pilot must react the
aerodynamic hinge moments that results
from deflecting a given control surface.
 The purpose of the ailerons is to provide
control about the airplane’s roll axis, by
modifying the rolling moment coefficient.
 The most effective way to accomplish this Typical impact of deflecting ailerons on the section lift
coefficients
is to modify the airfoil in the outboard
Impact of aileron deflection
region of the wing by changing its camber
on the flow field behind the
by deflecting a control surface. This aircraft predicted by the
modifies the distribution of lift along the potential flow theory. Note
wing, un-symmetrically, which generates a the difference in the size
rolling moment. and source of the various
wingtip vortices
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Fundamentals to Roll Control

Plain flap
 There are three common types of ailerons used
in modern airplanes; plain flap ailerons, Frise
ailerons, and spoiler-flap ailerons, also called
spoileron (a combination of spoilers and Frise flap
ailerons).
 Other aileron types include the flaperon (a
combination of flaps and ailerons) and elevon (a
combination of elevators and ailerons). There
also exist some highly specialized types of Spoiler-flap
ailerons such as the slotted-lip aileron.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Plain Flap Ailerons

 The plain flap is the most common type of

aileron configuration. They are very
effective and inexpensive to manufacture.
For this reason, they can be found on a
wide range of aircraft, ranging from
primary trainers to commercial aircraft.
 As can be seen in Figure the aileron on the
up-going wing is deflected trailing edge
down (TED) and the down-going wing is
deflected trailing edge up (TEU).
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Frise Ailerons

 The Frise aileron was invented by the famed

designer Leslie George Frise (1897-1979). Frise
ailerons were first developed during the 1930s.
 Their purpose is twofold:
(1) to reduce stick-forces at high airspeeds and
(2) to eliminate adverse yaw.
 This is accomplished by offsetting the hinge line
below the wing surface, introducing a large radius
motion to the control surface. The LE (leading edge)
of the one deflected TEU will be exposed to the
airstream, which, in turn, generates a suction peak
which helps reduce the hinge moment. The one
deflected TED has its aerodynamic center offset
from the hinge line, also helping to reduce the hinge
moment.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Frise Ailerons
The adverse yaw is caused by higher
 The aileron reduces or eliminates adverse yaw by forcing the drag on the outside wing, which is
leading edge of the aileron deflected TEU, downward and outside producing more lift
the regular outside mold line. This exposes it to the airstream
and increases the drag on that side of the wing (the down-going
side). The drag generates a yawing moment and reduces the
tendency of the wing to yaw “out of the turn” or opposite the
bank.
 If the leading edge of the aileron is round a powerful
lowpressure region is generated that lowers the hinge moment.
This explains its use in both fast and large aircraft before the
advent of hydraulically boosted control systems.
 If the nose is too sharp the lower surface may stall, which can
cause severe buffeting.
 Frise ailerons have seen use on many different aircraft types,
among them the B-17, Bell P-39, Grumman F6F-3 and TBF, the
Spitfire, Hurricane, Focke-Wulf 190, Curtiss Wright C-46 and
DC-4, and many Cessna models.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Spoiler-Flap Ailerons

 Several airplanes feature spoiler-flap type of aileron

(e.g. Mitsubishi MU-2, Boeing B-52, and others).
 This aileron type usually features a flap that is
deflected TED on the up-going wing and a small
spoiler on the down-going side.
 As the spoiler is deployed it reduces lift on the
down-going side, but also increases drag, therefore
counteracting adverse yaw tendency. The aileron on
that side may or may not deflect TEU at the same
time.
 A common complaint is that such aileron systems
tend to be sluggish at low airspeeds, as separated
flow creeps forward toward the leading edge of the
wing and reduces the effectiveness of the spoiler.
 This control system may display peculiar side-
effects on swept wings.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Slot-lip Ailerons
 The slot-lip aileron is a lateral control device that
regulates the flow of air through a slot made into the
wing using a small flap. The flap conforms to the shape
of the upper surface of the wing when not in use and is
designed reduce the flow of air through the slot. The
slot must not be completely closed in the neutral
deflection. However, when deployed, air will flow freely
through the slot and modify the wing flow field such
that the aircraft can be rolled.
 Slot-lip ailerons were investigated in the 1930s.
 Among results were excessive lag in the control
response, which was found to depend on the distance
of the device from leading edge. This lag was found to
be excessive unless the device is located some 80% of
the chord measured from the leading edge. In general,
the aileron was found to result in sluggish response,
which explains its rare use in aircraft design.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Slot-lip Ailerons
 It was also found that the slot must be open,
albeit less open when not in use for roll
control. The device delays the stall of the
wing tip, while maintaining roll damping,
although this is only true if the device is
located farther aft than 50% of chord from
LE (which is where the resulting lag is high).
 The aileron was found to increase the drag of
the wing by about 10% in cruise and 35% in
climb. If simplicity and safety are of higher
importance than cruise and climb
performance the slot-lip aileron might be
useful.
 It is featured on the Fairchild F-22 test
airplane and the GAF N-22 Nomad.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Elevon
 An elevon is a control surface for which the
elevator serves as an aileron in addition to
its normal function. It is used for flying
wings and tailless delta-wing aircraft. It can
also be found on some variable-sweep winged
supersonic fighters.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Differential Ailerons
 The effect of deflecting a flap, shows that as a
flap is deflected the drag of the airfoil will
increase.
 On a typical aileron configuration, consisting of
two plain flap ailerons, the aircraft is banked by
deflecting one aileron up and the other one down.
The drag of the down-deflected aileron increases
over that of the opposite wing, introducing a
yawing moment that tends to point the nose of the
aircraft in a heading opposite to the banked one.
This phenomenon is called adverse yaw.
 Adverse yaw is more pronounced for aircraft with
large aspect ratios (AR > 8). In order to help
remedy this tendency, differential ailerons are
employed.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Differential Ailerons
 For such ailerons, the deflection angle for the down-deflected aileron is smaller than that of the
up-deflected one. This results in less increase in drag and, thus, less adverse yaw.
 A typical ratio between the up and down traveling ailerons is 1:0.75. This means that if one aileron
is rotated 10° TEU, the opposite one will rotate 7.5° TED.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Roll Damping
 As the wing rolls it becomes asymmetrically
loaded as one half rotates up while the
opposite one rotates down. This rotation
changes the local AOA along the wing. The
wing rotating downward is subject to
increased local AOAs, while the opposite
holds for the wing that rotates up. This
asymmetry in the spanwise AOAs creates a
moment that resists the roll of the wing. It
is called roll damping.
Arrows show relative airspeed due to roll to the right.
This increases the AOA on the right wing (which is to
the left in the figure) and decreases it on the left
one.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Flutter
Flutter involves:
 aerodynamic forces.
 inertia forces.
 the elastic properties of a surface.
The distribution of mass and stiffness in a structure determine
certain natural frequencies and modes of vibration. If the
structure is subject to a ‘forcing’ frequency near these natural
frequencies, a resonant condition can result giving an unstable
oscillation which can rapidly lead to destruction. An aircraft is
subject to many aerodynamic excitations (gusts, control inputs,
etc.) and the aerodynamic forces at various speeds have
characteristic properties for rate of change of force and
moment. The aerodynamic forces may interact with the structure
and may excite (or negatively damp) the natural modes of the
structure and allow flutter. Flutter must not occur within the
normal flight operating envelope and the natural modes must be
damped if possible or designed to occur beyond dive speed.
Typical flutter mode
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Flutter
 Since the problem is one of high-speed flight, it
is generally desirable to have very high natural
frequencies and flutter speeds well above the
normal operating speeds. Any change of stiffness
or mass distribution will alter the modes and
frequencies and thus allow a change in the
flutter speeds. If the aircraft is not properly
maintained and excessive play and flexibility
(backlash) exist, flutter could occur at flight
speeds well below the operational limit speed.
 Wing flutter can be delayed to a higher speed,
for a given structural stiffness (weight), by
mounting the engines on pylons beneath the wing
forward of the leading edge. The engines act as
‘mass balance’ for the wing by moving the
flexural axis forward, closer to the AC.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Flutter
 Control surface flutter can develop as a result of
an oscillation of the control surface coupled with
an oscillation in bending or twisting of the wing,
tailplane or fin. A control surface oscillation can
result from backlash (free play) in the control
system or from a disturbance (gust).
 Flutter can develop if the CG of the control
surface is behind the hinge line, so that the
inertia of the control surface causes a
moment around the hinge.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Torsional Aileron Flutter

Torsional aileron
1) The aileron is displaced downwards, exerting an flutter can be
upwards force on the aileron hinge. prevented either by
2) The wing twists about the torsional axis, trailing mass balancing the
edge rising, taking the aileron hinge up with it, ailerons with
but the aileron surface lags behind due to the attachment of a mass
CG being aft of the hinge line. ahead of the hinge
3) The inherent stiffness of the wing has arrested line to bring the CG
onto, or slightly
the twisting motion (the spring is now wound up),
ahead of the hinge
but the air loads on the aileron, the stretch of line, or by making the
the control circuit, and its upwards momentum, controls irreversible
cause the aileron to “flick” upwards, placing a (fully powered
down load on the trailing edge of the wing. controls with no
4) The energy stored in the twisted wing and the manual reversion).
reversed aerodynamic load of the aileron cause
the wing to twist in the opposite direction. The
cycle is then repeated.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Flexural Aileron Flutter

 This is generally similar to the torsional flutter Before During
but is caused by the movement of the aileron
lagging behind the rise and fall of the outer
portion of the wing as it flexes (wing tips up and
down), thus tending to increase the oscillation.
 This type of flutter can also be prevented by
mass balancing the ailerons. The positioning of
the mass balance ‘weight’ is important the nearer
the wing tip, the smaller the mass required. After
 On many aircraft the mass is distributed along
the whole length of the aileron in the form of a
leading edge ‘spar’, thus increasing the stiffness
of the aileron and preventing a concentrated
mass starting torsional vibrations in the aileron
itself.
 Aircraft general knowledge - Airframe

Flexural Aileron Flutter

 Mass balancing must also be applied to elevators Before During
and rudders to prevent their inertia and the
‘springiness’ of the fuselage starting similar
motions. Mass balancing may even be applied to
tabs.
 The danger of all forms of flutter is that the
speed and amplitude of each cycle is greater
than its predecessor, so that in a second or two
the structure may be bent beyond its elastic After
limit and fail. Decreasing speed if flutter is
detected is theoretically the only means of
preventing structural failure, but the rate of
divergence is so rapid that slowing down is not
really a practical solution.