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Old 09-09-2013 | 12:14 PM
  #60  
Alex Voicu
 
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 520
Received 62 Likes on 28 Posts
From: Trollhattan, Sweden
Default Fin Fences test (version 1)
Finally here are the results from the fin fences and canalizer test.

Since the airflow was almost symmetrical on the left and right sides of the fuselage in previous tests, I decided to tuft only the right side and concentrate on the rear fuselage and tail area. Fin fences obviously don’t have any influence on the airflow around the nose section, the canalizer may have but only for a small area on the canopy.

I initially built and tested 2 fin fences, shaped as seen in the image below. They have a constant width and follow the shape of the fin airfoil.



I expected some visible improvements in right rudder KE maneuvers, but the results were disappointing at first; in KE horizontal flight the spanwise flow was indeed limited by the fences in the trailing edge area, but I could see some turbulence near the leading edge, probably caused by the front end of the fin fences.



In KE loops it was much worse, you can actually see the disrupted airflow caused by the 2 fin fences:
Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version Name: V1_fences.jpg Views: 2157 Size: 541.9 KB ID: 1918399   Click image for larger version Name: V1_fin_fences_RRudd_KE_horizontal.jpg Views: 2323 Size: 392.5 KB ID: 1918400   Click image for larger version Name: V1_fin_fences_RRudd_KE_loop.jpg Views: 2334 Size: 425.5 KB ID: 1918401  
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