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Prof Richard (Chunhui) Yang
Prof Richard Yang is the Interim Dean, School of Engineering, Director, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Head of Discipline, Mechanical and Mechtronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Western Sydney University. His research fields include Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, advanced Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing, Digital Twin, Industry 4.0, Mechanical Design, Engineering Numerical Methods, Multiscale Modelling Techniques, etc.
2026-10-23
2026-08-17
2026-06-18
Manuscript received November 13, 2024; revised November 29, 2024; accepted February 7, 2025; published May 16, 2025
Abstract—Vertical stabilizers and rudder are important components in maintaining aircraft stability and aerodynamic control, especially in yaw maneuvers and lateral stability. This study aims to identify the characteristics of side forces, drag forces, flow separation, and pressure contours on the vertical stabilizer and rudder models of the PPH-Unhas microlight aircraft. Two models were made according to the PPH-Unhas prototype and tested using experimental methods conducted in a low-speed wind tunnel and computational methods using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) FLUENT 6.3.26 software. Tests were conducted at three airflow velocities, namely 10 m/s, 16 m/s, and 22 m/s. Each speed level was treated with 10 (ten) changes in aircraft rudder deflection angle (δ) from 0º to 45º. The results showed that the highest side force (FS) and drag force (FD) were achieved at 2.008 N and 1.010 N, respectively, at an angle of δ = 45º with V = 22 m/s. The maximum side force coefficient (CS) of 1,903 was obtained at δ = 25º with V = 22 m/s, while the highest drag coefficient (CD) of 1,090 occurred at δ = 45º with V = 10 m/s. At V = 22 m/s, flow separation at an angle of δ = 5º occurs early at tapping point 7 with pressure coefficient (CP) = −0.028, at δ = 25º at tapping point 9 with CP = −0.056, and at δ = 45º at tapping point 10 with CP = −0.444. The best pressure contour is obtained at δ = 25º, so the optimal angle for the rudder is δ = 25º Keywords—drag coefficient (CD), pressure coefficient (CP), flow separation, side coefficient (CS), vertical stabilizer and rudder model, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) FLUENT Cite: Nasaruddin Salam, Rustan Tarakka, Lukman Kasim, Muhammad Agung, and Hamsa, "Characteristics of Side Force and Fluid Flow Separation Past Vertical Stabilizer and Rudder of Microlight Aircraft Model," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 252-261, 2025. doi: 10.18178/ijmerr.14.3.252-261Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
