Investigation of F-16 Control Surface Failures and Optimal Setting of Functional Controls

摘要

Experimental investigation was conducted in the AFIT 5-Foot Wind tunnel. 1/20 th scale F-16 model was used. Three different failure cases were investigated. These were fixed deflection of a control surface, floating left flaperson, and missing left flaperson. Angle of attack and sideslip angle varied for each control surface deflection. By using data reduction and least squares fits, the results of the investigation has been plotted. The curve fits were utilized to study control surface settings that produce minimum drag for given flight conditions when a control surface fails. Oil visualization were made for each failure case configuration. These were used to obtain an indication of the flow characteristics on the F-16 model.